Methods and apparatus to manage data connections for multiple subscriber identities in a wireless communication device

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods to manage data connections to multiple wireless networks in a wireless communication device supporting multiple subscriber identities via multiple subscriber identity modules (SIMs) are disclosed. A representative method includes detecting an application request to establish a data connection; obtaining a preference for prioritization of data connections for the multiple SIMs; and based on the preference, establishing the data connection with a wireless network associated with one of the multiple SIMs. In representative embodiments, the preference is based on a user specified or default prioritization of the multiple SIMs, an order of radio access technologies (RATs), one or more quality metrics, data rates supported, and/or availability of wireless local area networks for the data connections.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a national stage entry under 35 U.S.C. 371(c) of andclaims priority to International Application No. PCT/CN2014/078915 filedMay 30, 2014, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS TO MANAGE DATA CONNECTIONSFOR MULTIPLE SUBSCRIBER IDENTITIES IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE,”and published as International Publication No. WO2015/180129A1 on Dec.3, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety forall purposes.

FIELD

The described embodiments generally relate to wireless communications,and more particularly, to methods and apparatus to manage dataconnections for multiple subscriber identities in a wirelesscommunication device.

BACKGROUND

Fourth generation (4G) cellular networks employing newer radio accesstechnology systems that implement the 3^(rd) Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE Advanced (LTE-A)standards are rapidly being developed and deployed by network operatorsworldwide in parallel with legacy second generation (2G) and thirdgeneration (3G) wireless networks. Wireless communication devices caninclude the capability to connect with different types of wirelessnetworks, e.g., based on what wireless networks are available in aparticular location, based capabilities of available wireless networks,based on capabilities of the wireless communication device, based onproperties of particular services provided by a wireless network, and/orbased on service subscriptions with which the wireless communicationdevice is associated. A removable universal integrated circuit card(UICC) including a subscriber identity module (SIM) that includesauthentication credentials to permit a user of the wirelesscommunication device to connect with a wireless network and to accessparticular services can be replaced by another UICC/SIM combination inan “unlocked” wireless communication device to provide access to adifferent set of services associated with a different subscriberidentity. Wireless communication devices that accommodate multipleUICCs/SIMs provide for multiple subscriber identities to be used by thesame wireless communication device to connect to two or more differentwireless networks (and/or to the same wireless network) and to accessdifferent services associated with the multiple subscriber identities.While these wireless communication devices provide for flexible accessto different services and to multiple wireless networks, an internalarchitecture of such wireless communication devices that support themultiple UICCs/SIMs usually includes parallel hardware and parallelsoftware such that each UICC/SIM acts independently with no interactionor interface between them. Although this internal architecture issimple, independent operation of the parallel UICCs/SIMs (and associatedhardware/software) in the wireless communication device can result ininefficiencies, as each parallel internal system can duplicate variousfunctions used for network connection management. As such, there existsa need for solutions that enable cooperation and synergy betweenhardware and software that support multiple subscriber identities in awireless communication device.

SUMMARY

Apparatus and methods to manage data connections for multiple subscriberidentities in a wireless communication device are disclosed. Arepresentative method includes the wireless communication deviceincluding multiple subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as multipleSIMs on a single universal integrated circuit card (UICC), multiple SIMson multiple UICCs, and/or multiple electronic SIMs (eSIMs) on anembedded UICC (eUICC). The wireless communication device includes a userconfigurable prioritization and/or a default prioritization forestablishing data connections to one or more wireless networksassociated with the multiple SIMs/eSIMs. The wireless communicationdevice detects an application request (or other software and/or hardwarebased resource request) to establish a data connection, and obtains apreference for the prioritization of data connections for the multipleSIMs/eSIMs. The preference can be stored in the wireless communicationdevice. Based on the obtained preference, the wireless communicationdevice establishes the data connection with a wireless networkassociated with one of the multiple SIMs/eSIMs. The preference includesa prioritized order in which wireless networks and/or SIMs/eSIMs areused.

In a representative embodiment, the preference includes a prioritizationbased on one or more of a wireless radio access technology (RAT) used bythe one or more wireless networks (e.g., later generation 4G LTEpreferred over earlier generation 2G/3G or a wireless local area network(WLAN) preferred over a cellular wireless network), a specific orderingof the SIMs, a preference for particular wireless network capabilities(e.g., higher data rates preferred over lower data rates), a measurablecharacteristic of the wireless networks (e.g., signal strength/quality),and service profiles (e.g., home networks preferred over roamingnetworks). The wireless communication device can use the preference todetermine an order of wireless networks with which to establish a dataconnection. The wireless communication device can also switch anestablished data connection from a cellular wireless network to a WLANwhen the WLAN is detected and available. The wireless communicationdevice can monitor signal strength/quality conditions for the dataconnection and can switch among different wireless networks accordingly,e.g., based on a signal quality threshold and/or detection of anout-of-service condition. In an embodiment, the wireless communicationdevice establishes a data connection (or switches an established dataconnection) to a wireless network that supports simultaneouscircuit-switched voice connections and packet-switched data connectionsin response to detecting the establishment of a circuit-switched voiceconnection.

This Summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing some exampleembodiments so as to provide a basic understanding of some aspects ofthe subject matter described herein. Accordingly, it will be appreciatedthat the above-described features are merely examples and should not beconstrued to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter describedherein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter described herein will become apparent from the followingDetailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, theprinciples of the described embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The described embodiments and the advantages thereof may best beunderstood with reference to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and they are in no way intended to limit orexclude foreseeable modifications thereto in form and detail that may bemade by one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates components of a generic wireless communicationnetwork, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates components of a legacy 2G/3G wireless communicationnetwork, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates components of a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) orLTE-Advanced (LTE-A) wireless communication network, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a wireless communication device connected in parallelwith the legacy 2G/3G wireless communication network of FIG. 2 and withthe 4G LTE or LTE-A wireless communication network of FIG. 3, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5A illustrates a diagram of a dual subscriber identity module (SIM)wireless communication device connected in parallel with two wirelessnetworks, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5B illustrates diagrams for wireless communication devices thatsupport multiple subscriber identities, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of components in a multi-eSIM mobilewireless communication device, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7A illustrates a diagram of a dual SIM, dual active (DSDA) wirelesscommunication device, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7B illustrates a diagram of a dual SIM, dual standby (DSDS)wireless communication device, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7C illustrates representative dual SIM, dual access/standby (DSDx)wireless communication devices, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates representative dual SIM, dual access/standby (DSDx)wireless communication devices that include links between wirelesscellular protocol software stacks, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates master/slave relationships for wireless cellularprotocol software stacks of a wireless communication device, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a diagram of a transition of two wireless cellularprotocol software stacks of a wireless communication device from a firstcell to a second cell, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate diagrams of task sharing between two cellularprotocol software stacks of a wireless communication device, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates a message exchange sequence between a wirelesscommunication device and network elements of a wireless network toreceive a second connection while connected via a first connection, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates a message exchange sequence between a wirelesscommunication device and network elements of a wireless network toreceive a short message service (SMS) message over a second connectionwhile connected via a first connection, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate methods executed by a wireless communicationdevice associated with and/or connected via two subscriber identities toone or more wireless networks, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 17 illustrates a method to share radio frequency wireless circuitryby two cellular protocol software stacks in a wireless communicationdevice to communicate with two wireless networks, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 18 illustrates a method to manage data connections in a wirelesscommunication device that includes multiple subscriber identities, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 19 illustrates a method to support parallel communication by awireless communication device that includes multiple subscriberidentities, in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Representative examples for managing subscriptions, accessing services,enabling cooperation, and realizing synergy for multiple subscriberidentities in a wireless device are provided herein. These examples areprovided to add context to, and to aid in the understanding of, thesubject matter of this disclosure. It should be apparent that thepresent disclosure may be practiced with or without some of the specificdetails described herein. Further, various modifications and/oralterations can be made to the subject matter described herein, andillustrated in the corresponding figures, to achieve similar advantagesand results, without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

References are made in this section to the accompanying drawings, whichform a part of the disclosure and in which are shown, by way ofillustration, various implementations corresponding to the describedembodiments herein. Although the embodiments of this disclosure aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable one having ordinary skill inthe art to practice the described implementations, it should beunderstood that these examples are not to be construed as beingoverly-limiting or all-inclusive.

In accordance with various embodiments described herein, the terms“wireless communication device,” “wireless device,” “mobile device,”“mobile station,” and “user equipment” (UE) may be used interchangeablyherein to describe one, or any number of, common consumer electronicdevice(s) that may be capable of performing procedures associatedvarious embodiments the disclosure. In accordance with variousimplementations, any one of these consumer electronic devices may relateto: a cellular phone or a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer or a netbook computer, a media player device, an electronicbook device, a MiFi® device, as well as any other type of electroniccomputing device having fourth generation (4G) LTE and LTE Advanced(LTE-A) communication capabilities. In various embodiments, thesecapabilities may allow a respective UE to communicate within various 4Gwireless network cells that can employ any type of LTE-based radioaccess technology (RAT).

Additionally, it should be understood that the UEs described herein maybe configured as multi-mode wireless communication devices that are alsocapable of communicating via legacy third generation (3G) and/or secondgeneration (2G) RATs in addition to communicating with 4G wirelessnetworks. In some scenarios, a multi-mode UE can be configured to preferattachment to LTE or LTE-A networks offering faster data ratethroughput, as compared to legacy 2G/3G wireless networks that offerlower data rate throughputs. In some embodiments, a 4G compliant UE maybe configured to fall back to a legacy 2G/3G wireless network, e.g., anEvolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) network or a Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA) 2000 Evolution-Data Only (EV-DO) network, whenLTE and LTE-A networks are otherwise unavailable and/or are unable toprovide particular services, such as circuit-switched voice connections.Multi-mode UEs can include support for communication in accordance withone or more different wireless communication protocols developed bystandards bodies, e.g., 3GPP's Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), LTE, and LTE-Astandards or 3GPP2's CDMA2000 (1×RTT, 2×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD) standards.Multi-mode UEs can also support communication using wireless local areanetworking protocols, e.g., IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX),and wireless personal area networking protocols, e.g., Bluetooth®.Multiple wireless communication protocols can provide complementaryfunctions and/or different services for a multi-mode UE.

In some embodiments, the multi-mode UE can support multiple subscriberidentities, with each subscriber identity being associated with a set ofwireless networks, e.g., a home network and one or more preferredroaming networks, and with a set of services provided through one ormore of the wireless networks. The multi-mode UE can be configured toconnect to one or more of the wireless networks individually or inparallel based on the different subscriber identities. In someembodiments, each wireless network can provide different services inaccordance with the multiple subscriber identities. In some embodiments,subscriber identities are embodied as part of one or more subscriberidentity modules (SIMs) installed on and/or associated with one or moreremovable universal integrated circuit cards (UICCs) or as part of oneor more electronic SIMs (eSIMs) on one or more embedded UICCs (eUICCs).(The “electronic” SIM can also be referred to as an “embedded” SIM or an“enhanced” SIM, in some embodiments.) In some embodiments, themulti-mode UE can connect with a first wireless network usinginformation (e.g., authorization certificates) associated with a firstSIM and with a second wireless network using information associated witha second SIM. The multi-mode UE can be configured to prefer connectionsto particular wireless networks based on subscriber identityinformation, based on wireless network type (e.g., home vs. roaming),based on services provided via the wireless network, based on radioaccess technology, based on access network conditions (e.g., signalstrength and/or signal quality), and/or based on user preferences. Insome embodiments, the multi-mode UE can connect to a first wirelessnetwork for voice services and/or for circuit-switched services and to asecond wireless network for data services and/or for packet-switchedservices. In some embodiments, a first SIM can be associated with apersonal/home account for a user of the multi-mode UE, while a secondSIM can be associated with a business/work account for the user of themulti-mode UE.

When two (or more) SIMs of the wireless communication device areassociated with the same wireless service provider (or carrier orwireless network operator or mobile network operator or mobile virtualnetwork operator), the wireless communication device can be configuredto force both (or all) wireless cellular protocol software stacks to beassociated with and/or connect to the same wireless network. In someembodiments, the wireless communication device forces the wirelesscellular protocol software stacks to use the same radio accesstechnology (RAT) and/or to connect via the same cell of the same radioaccess network portion of the same wireless network. The wirelesscommunication device can force common use/connections when both (or all)SIMs/eSIMs are from the same wireless service provider or from differentwireless service providers but associated with the same physicalwireless network, e.g., as part of a roaming agreement. Mobilitymanagement tasks, e.g., serving cell measurement, neighbor cellmeasurement, cell reselection, network handover, etc., can be sharedbetween the wireless cellular protocol software stacks, and one wirelesscellular protocol software stack can follow the other wireless cellularprotocol software stack to maintain connections to the same (or a commontarget) cell of the same (or a common target) wireless network duringreselection/handover. Duplication of mobility management tasks betweenthe wireless cellular protocol software stacks can be reduced by sharingtasks among the wireless cellular protocol software stacks and/or bysharing information gathered and/or determined by each wireless cellularprotocol software stack with other wireless cellular protocol softwarestacks.

When the two (or more) SIMs/eSIMs of the wireless communication deviceare associated with the same wireless service provider, the wirelesscommunication device can be configured to enforce cooperation andsynergistic operation of two (or more) wireless cellular protocolsoftware stacks operating on the wireless communication device. (In someembodiments, when the SIMs of the wireless communication device areassociated with different wireless service providers, the wirelesscommunication device can also be configured to enforce cooperationand/or synergy between multiple wireless cellular protocol softwarestacks.) The wireless cellular protocol software stacks can dividemobility management tasks among themselves, execute the divided mobilitymanagement tasks in parallel, and exchange and share information betweenthe multiple wireless cellular protocol software stacks. Each wirelesscellular protocol software stack can use associated radio frequencywireless circuitry to perform mobility management tasks, such assearching for a public land mobile network (PLMN). Mobility managementtasks can be divided among the multiple wireless cellular protocolsoftware stacks based on radio access technology and/or based on radiofrequency bands to balance the PLMN search effort among the multiplewireless cellular protocol software stacks. Each wireless cellularprotocol software stack can also perform cell measurements of its ownserving cell and can share cell measurement information with otherwireless cellular protocol software stacks operating in the samewireless communication device. Similarly, each wireless cellularprotocol software stack can measure a set of neighbor cells and sharethe measurement information with other wireless cellular protocolsoftware stacks, thereby avoiding duplication of measurements of thesame cells by multiple wireless cellular protocol software stacksoperating in the same wireless communication device. When two SIMs/eSIMsare associated with the same PLMN (e.g., via the same serving carrier)or with “equivalent” PLMNs (e.g., as a serving carrier for one SIM/eSIMand as a roaming carrier with another SIM/eSIM), the two wirelesscellular protocol software stacks can share mobility managementinformation, such as lists of network lists, cell lists, white lists,black lists, broadcast system information, cell-specific information,physical layer communication information, synchronization information,wireless circuitry settings, etc. The multiple wireless cellularprotocol software stacks can also share and coordinate information forcell reselection, cell handover, fallback procedures, and/or virtualcircuit connection management. Cooperation and synergistic operationamong multiple wireless cellular protocol software stacks operating in awireless communication device can reduce task duplication, reduce powerconsumption, accelerate information gathering, reduce serviceinterruption, and improve connection stability by executing mobilitymanagement tasks in parallel and sharing information gathered therebyamong the multiple wireless cellular protocol software stacks.

The wireless communication device, in some embodiments, can beconfigured to reuse radio frequency wireless circuitry to communicatewith multiple wireless networks to support multiple subscriberidentities. The wireless communication device, while connected to afirst wireless network for a first subscriber identity, can receivesignaling messages, such as paging messages or paging indications, froma second wireless network for a second subscriber identity. A portion ofradio frequency wireless circuitry of the wireless communication devicecan be reconfigured to communicate with the second wireless network,e.g., to establish a signaling channel with the second wireless networkand to respond to signaling messages received from the second wirelessnetwork using the established signaling channel. The portion of radiofrequency wireless circuitry of the wireless communication device can bereconfigured back and forth between the first wireless network and thesecond wireless network to maintain a connection with the first wirelessnetwork, e.g., a voice connection, a data connection, and/or a signalingconnection, while also receiving from the second wireless networklimited information that can be provided to a user of the wirelesscommunication device. Representative information that can be receivedfrom the second wireless network includes an indication of an originatorof a mobile terminated connection request and short message servicedata. Parallel wireless cellular protocol software stacks running on oneor more baseband processors of the wireless communication device cancommunicate with the first wireless network and the second wirelessnetwork via radio frequency wireless circuitry that is shared betweenthe wireless cellular protocol software stacks. The radio frequencywireless circuitry of the wireless communication device can also includededicated parallel radio frequency receivers to enable parallelreception for two different subscriber identities from one or morewireless networks. When one wireless cellular protocol software stack isconnected to the first wireless network via a first radio frequencyreceiver, paging requests (and/or other signaling messages) can bereceived for another cellular protocol software stack via a second radiofrequency receiver. Processing circuitry of the wireless communicationdevice, e.g., one or more baseband processors, can be configured toswitch the single radio frequency transmitter between the two cellularprotocol software stacks to support limited communication with thesecond wireless network while also maintaining communication with thefirst wireless network. The wireless communication device can respond topaging requests, establish a signaling channel, and receive informationfrom the second wireless network, e.g., indications of an originator ofa mobile terminated connection request and/or short message service(SMS) data. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device canreject a mobile terminated connection request received from the secondwireless network and can provide an indication of the missed connectionrequest to a user thereof without dropping the connection to the firstwireless network. Similarly, in some embodiments, the wirelesscommunication device can receive SMS data from the second wirelessnetwork, while also remaining connected to the first wireless network,without requiring multiple parallel radio frequency transmitters in theradio frequency wireless circuitry of the wireless communication device.

The wireless communication device, in some embodiments, can beconfigured to manage data connections using multiple SIMs/eSIMs andmultiple associated wireless networks. The wireless communication devicecan be able to connect to different wireless networks and can prioritizean order in which the wireless networks are used by the wirelesscommunication device when establishing a new data connection and/or towhich networks to maintain and/or switch an existing data connection.The wireless communication device can access multiple wireless networksthat are associated with the multiple SIMs/eSIMs, and at least two ofthe SIMs/eSIMs and/or two of the wireless networks can each support adata connection. The wireless communication device can determine anorder in which to select the wireless networks for attempting toestablish and/or to maintain and/or to switch a data connection. Theprioritized order can be based on a user preference and/or a defaultsoftware configuration setting. The wireless communication device canprioritize the wireless networks with which to attempt to establish adata connection based on one or more of: a wireless radio accesstechnology (RAT) used by the one or more wireless networks (e.g., alater generation 4G LTE RAT can be preferred over an earlier generationlegacy 2G/3G RAT, or, alternatively and/or in addition, a wireless localarea network (WLAN) can be preferred over a cellular wireless network),a specific ordering of the SIMs/eSIMs, a preference for particularwireless network capabilities (e.g., higher data rates can be preferredover lower data rates), a measurable characteristic of the wirelessnetworks (e.g., signal strength/quality), and service profiles (e.g.,home networks can be preferred over roaming networks). The wirelesscommunication device can switch data connections between wirelessnetworks and/or SIMs/eSIMs based on communication channel conditionsand/or service capabilities provided by the wireless networks.

The wireless communication device, in some embodiments, includes radiofrequency circuitry that includes at least one antenna and at least oneradio frequency block coupled to the at least one antenna, and at leastone baseband processor configured to transmit and receive radiofrequency signals by means of the radio frequency wireless circuitry.The at least one baseband processor is configured to establishconnections with one or more wireless networks, such as using a firstwireless cellular protocol software stack for a first subscriberidentity associated with a first SIM/eSIM to communicate with a firstwireless network and a second wireless cellular protocol software stackfor a second subscriber identity associated with a second SIM/eSIM tocommunicate with a second wireless network. The wireless communicationdevice includes multiple SIMs/eSIMs, such as multiple SIMs on a singleuniversal integrated circuit card (UICC), multiple SIMs on multipleUICCs, and/or multiple eSIMs on an embedded UICC (eUICC). The wirelesscommunication device can receive signals from the second wirelessnetwork while in parallel communicate with the first wireless network,such as by using two parallel radio frequency receivers and sharing asingle radio frequency transmitter between a first wireless cellularprotocol stack and a second cellular protocol software stack. Eachwireless network can operate in accordance with a different radio accesstechnology, use a different radio frequency band, and/or use a differentradio frequency channel. The wireless communication device can maintainan active connection with one wireless network, while also receivingpage messages, paging indications, broadcast messages, and/or referencesignals from another wireless network. The wireless communication devicecan include a single baseband processor on which the wireless cellularprotocol software stacks reside in parallel interconnected by a softwareinterface and/or on separate baseband processors interconnected by ahardware interface over which a software interface between the wirelesscellular protocol software stacks can exchange information. In someembodiments, the baseband processor(s) divide mobility management tasksbetween the parallel wireless cellular protocol software stacks topermit cooperation and/or operational synergy between the parallelwireless cellular protocol software stacks.

In some embodiments, a set of one or more SIMs/eSIMs for the wirelesscommunication device can reside internally in the wireless communicationdevice, e.g., on one or more removable UICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICCin the wireless communication device, and/or reside externally in awireless accessory device. The wireless accessory device can be coupledto the wireless communication device through a wired interface and/orthrough a wireless interface. A second SIM/eSIM in the wirelessaccessory device can provide for extending the capability of thewireless communication device to connect to wireless networks, e.g., toa particular wireless network for which a first SIM/eSIM in the wirelesscommunication device is not authorized to provide a connection, e.g.,the first SIM/eSIM may be not activated for the particular wirelessnetwork. Alternatively, the second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessorydevice can enable the wireless communication device to connect to awireless network using a different subscriber identity than available ina first SIM/eSIM in the wireless communication device, such as whenusing two different subscriber identities from two different SIMs/eSIMsto access the same wireless network for different services and/orsubscriptions. A wireless cellular protocol software stack in thewireless communication device can communicate with the wirelessaccessory device, e.g., to access the second SIM/eSIM over thewired/wireless interface and to exchange information, such as to obtaincredentials, by which the wireless communication device can registerwith and/or connect to the wireless network using theinformation/credentials from the second SIM/eSIM via the cellularprotocol software stack. In a representative embodiment, the interfacebetween the wireless communication device and the wireless accessorydevice uses a low power, wireless protocol, e.g., a Bluetooth® LowEnergy wireless communication protocol, a radio frequency identification(RFID) protocol, or a near field communication (NFC) protocol. Thewireless accessory device can provide for accessing the second SIM/eSIMwhen the wireless communication device is not designed to includemultiple SIMs/eSIMs on multiple UICCs and/or on an eUICC, e.g., thewireless communication device includes a bay for only a single removableUICC and/or uses internal eSIMs on an eUICC without support for anotherSIM on a removable UICC. The wireless accessory device, in general,permits access to SIMs/eSIMs for connections to wireless networksthrough the wireless communication device, where the activated SIM/eSIMis not resident in the wireless communication device. The secondSIM/eSIM resident in the wireless accessory device can support all thesame functions as a first SIM/eSIM resident in the wirelesscommunication device, in some embodiments. Multiple external SIMs/eSIMscan be resident in the wireless accessory device. The first “internal”SIM/eSIM resident in the wireless communication device can operateindependently of the second “external” SIM/eSIM resident in the wirelessaccessory device.

FIG. 1 illustrates a representative “generic” wireless network 100 thatcan include a wireless communication device 102 connected by one or moreradio links 126 to one or more radio sectors 104 provided by a radioaccess network 128. Each radio sector 104 can represent a geographicarea of radio coverage emanating from an associated radio node 108 usinga radio frequency channel operating at a selected frequency. Each radionode 108 can generate one or more radio sectors 104 to which thewireless communication device 102 can connect by one or more radio links126. In some wireless networks 100, the wireless communication device102 can be connected to more than one radio sector 104 simultaneously.The multiple radio sectors 104, to which the wireless communicationdevice 102 can be connected, can emanate from a single radio node 108 orfrom separate radio nodes 108 that can share a common radio controller110. A group of radio nodes 108 together with the associated radiocontroller 110 can be referred to as a radio access subsystem 106.Typically each radio node 108 in a radio access subsystem 106 caninclude a set of radio frequency transmitting and receiving equipmentmounted on an antenna tower, and the radio controller 110 connected tothe radio nodes 108 can include electronic equipment for controlling andprocessing transmitted and received radio frequency signals. The radiocontroller 110 can manage the establishment, maintenance and release ofthe radio links 126 that connect the wireless communication device 102to the radio access network 128.

Radio resources that form the radio links 126 in the radio sectors 104can be shared among multiple wireless communication devices 102 using anumber of different multiplexing techniques, including time division,frequency division, code division, space division and combinationsthereof. A radio resource control (RRC) signaling connection can be usedto communicate between the wireless communication device 102 and theradio controller 110 in the radio access subsystem 106 of the radioaccess network 128 including requests for and dynamic allocations ofradio resources to multiple wireless communication devices 102. Thewireless communication device 102 can be connected to the radio accessnetwork 128 through one or more radio sectors 104 simultaneously. Insome embodiments, the wireless communication device 102 and the wirelessnetwork 100 support diversity communication and/or multiple inputmultiple output (MIMO) communication, in which radio frequency signalsare sent through two or more separate wireless communication paths (alsoreferred to as channels), e.g., to provide redundant data through themultiple paths to improve signal reception and decoding which can inturn improve downlink performance, or to provide additional data throughthe multiple paths to increase the downlink data rates.

The radio access network 128, which provides radio frequency air linkconnections to the wireless communication device 102, connects also to acore network 112 that can include a circuit switched domain 122, usuallyused for voice traffic, and a packet switched domain 124, usually usedfor data traffic. Radio controllers 110 in the radio access subsystems106 of the radio access network 128 can connect to both a circuitswitching center 118 in the circuit switched domain 122 and a packetswitching node 120 in the packet switched domain of the core network112. The circuit-switching center 118 can route circuit switchedtraffic, such as a voice call, to a public switched telephone network(PSTN) 114. The packet switching node 120 can route packet switchedtraffic, such as a “connectionless” set of data packets, to a publicdata network (PDN) 116.

FIG. 2 illustrates a representative legacy 2G/3G wireless network 200that can include elements comparable to those described for the“generic” wireless network 100 shown in FIG. 1. (For example, the legacy2G/3G wireless network 200 can be a CDMA 2000 1× wireless network, a GSMwireless network, a UMTS wireless network, or a CDMA EV-DO wirelessnetwork.) Multiple mobile stations 202 can connect to one or more radiosectors 204 through one or more radio frequency links 226. Each radiosector 204 can radiate outward from a base transceiver station (BTS) 208that can connect to a base station controller (BSC) 210, togetherforming a base station subsystem (BSS) 206. Multiple base stationsubsystems 206 can be aggregated to form a radio access network 228.Base station controllers 210 in different base station subsystems 206can be interconnected. The base station controllers 210 can connect toboth a circuit switched domain 222 that use multiple mobile switchingcenters (MSC) 218 and a packet switched domain 224 formed with packetdata service nodes (PDSN) 220, which together can form a core network212 for the wireless network 200. As with the generic wireless network100 described above, the circuit switched domain 222 of the core network212 can interconnect to the PSTN 114, while the packet switched domain224 of the core network 212 can interconnect to the PDN 116. Legacywireless networks 200 can provide services for wireless communicationdevices, e.g., mobile stations 202, that can be unable to be provided bya 4G wireless network, e.g., a circuit switched voice connection via thelegacy wireless network 200. Legacy wireless networks 200 can be used inparallel with 4G wireless networks to provide a range of advancedservices, e.g., through the 4G wireless network, and a range of legacyservices, e.g., through the legacy 2G/3G wireless network 200, for thesame wireless communication device. In some embodiments, the legacy2G/3G wireless network 200 provides voice services and/or circuitswitched services, while the 4G wireless network provides data/internetand/or packet switched services. In some embodiments, the legacy 2G/3Gwireless network 200 is used for a first subscriber identity, while the4G wireless network is used for a second subscriber identity. In someembodiments, each wireless network, e.g., the legacy 2G/3G wirelessnetwork 200 and the 4G wireless network, can be used by one or moresubscriber identities (e.g., as part of a fallback procedure or aroaming agreement).

FIG. 3 illustrates a representative architecture for a 4G Long TermEvolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced wireless network 300, which is designedas a packet switched network exclusively. A user equipment (UE) 302 canconnect to an evolved radio access network 322 through radio links 326associated with radio sectors 304 that emanate from evolved Node B's(eNodeB) 310. The eNodeB 310 can include the functions of bothtransmitting and receiving base stations (such as the BTS 208 in thelegacy wireless network 200) as well as base station radio controllers(such as the BSC 210 in the legacy wireless network 200). The equivalentcore network of the LTE wireless network 300 is an evolved packet corenetwork 320 including serving gateways 312 that interconnect the evolvedradio access network 322 to public data network (PDN) gateways 316 thatconnect to external internet protocol (IP) networks 318. Multiple eNodeB310 can be grouped together to form an eUTRAN 306. The eNodeB 310 canalso be connected to a mobility management entity (MME) 314 that canprovide control over connections for the user equipment 302. The eNodeB310 can control allocation of radio resources for the radio links 326 tothe user equipment 302. The eNodeB 310 can communicate paging messagesto the user equipment 302, including paging messages to establish an RRCconnection with the user equipment 302.

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram 400 of a wireless communication device 102in communication with both the 4G LTE/LTE-A wireless network 300 andwith the legacy 2G/3G wireless network 200. (The generic term “wirelesscommunication device” 102 shall be used hereinafter to denote a mobileterminal, a mobile station, a user equipment, or other comparablerecognized term for a mobile wireless device that can connect throughone or more wireless access networks to one or more wireless networks.)The legacy 2G/3G wireless network 200 can connect to thecircuit-switched based public switched telephone network (PSTN) 114through a mobile switching center (MSC) 218. The legacy 2G/3G wirelessnetwork 200 can provide circuit-switched services, e.g.,circuit-switched voice connections for the wireless communication device102, such as used in a circuit-switched fallback (CSFB) procedure. TheMSC 218 of the legacy 2G/3G wireless network 200 can be interconnectedto the MME 314 of the 4G LTE/LTE-A wireless network 300 to coordinatecall signaling for the wireless communication device 102, in someembodiments. FIG. 4 illustrates a representative interconnection betweenthe legacy 2G/3G wireless network 200 and the 4G wireless network 300that can provide for coordination of wireless services between them, insome embodiments. In some embodiments, two or more parallel wirelessnetworks can be interconnected to support subscriber mobility, e.g.,based on roaming agreements between wireless network providers. In someembodiments, multiple wireless networks can provide separate services tothe wireless communication device 102, e.g., when the wirelesscommunication device 102 supports multiple subscriber identities, witheach subscriber identity being associated with one of the multiplewireless networks (or more generally with a wireless network operatorand/or service provider that offers services via one of the wirelessnetworks).

FIG. 5A illustrates a diagram 500 of components of a dual SIM wirelesscommunication device 502 including one or more processor(s) 506 andwireless circuitry 508 that provides for wireless radio frequency (RF)connections between the dual SIM wireless communication device 502 and afirst wireless network 510A and a second wireless network 510B. In someembodiments, the wireless circuitry 508 includes one or more basebandprocessor(s), and a set of RF analog front-end circuitry. In someembodiments, the wireless circuitry 508 and/or a portion thereof caninclude or be referred to as a wireless transmitter/receiver or atransceiver or a radio. The terms circuit, circuitry, component, andcomponent block may be used interchangeably herein, in some embodiments,to refer to one or more operational units of a wireless communicationdevice that process and/or operate on digital signals, analog signals,or digital data units used for wireless communication. For example,representative circuits can perform various functions that convertdigital data units to transmitted radio frequency analog waveformsand/or convert received analog waveforms into digital data unitsincluding intermediate analog forms and intermediate digital forms. Thewireless circuitry 508 can include components of RF analog front-endcircuitry, e.g. a set of one or more antennas, which can beinterconnected with additional supporting RF circuitry that can includefilters and other analog components that can be “configured” fortransmission and/or reception of analog signals via one or morecorresponding antennas to one or more of the first and second wirelessnetworks 510A/B.

The processor(s) 506 and the wireless circuitry 508 can be configured toperform and/or control performance of one or more functionalities of thedual SIM wireless communication device 502, in accordance with variousimplementations. The processor(s) 506 and the wireless circuitry 508 canprovide functionality for coordinating hardware/software resources inthe dual SIM wireless communication device 502 to improve performanceand reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections toone or more of the wireless networks 510A/B. The processor(s) 506 mayinclude multiple processors of different types that can provide for bothwireless communication management and/or higher layer functions, e.g.,one or more of the processor(s) 506 may be configured to perform dataprocessing, application execution, and/or other device functionsaccording to one or more embodiments of the disclosure. The dual SIMwireless communication device 502, or portions or components thereof,such as processor(s) 506, can include one or more chipsets, which canrespectively include any number of coupled microchips thereon.

In some embodiments, the processor(s) 506 may be configured in a varietyof different forms. For example, the processor(s) 506 may be associatedwith any number of microprocessors, co-processors, controllers, orvarious other computing or processing implements, including integratedcircuits such as, for example, an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or anycombination thereof. In various scenarios, multiple processors 506 ofthe dual SIM wireless communication device 502 can be coupled to and/orconfigured in operative communication with each other, and thesecomponents may be collectively configured to perform mobility managementfunctions associated with multiple subscriber identities associated withwireless services provided via multiple wireless networks. In someimplementations, the processor(s) 506 can be configured to executeinstructions that may be stored in memory, or that can otherwise beaccessible to the processor(s) 506 in some other device memory. As such,whether configured as, or in conjunction with, hardware or a combinationof hardware and software, the processor(s) 506 may be capable ofperforming operations according to various implementations describedherein, when configured accordingly. In various embodiments, memory inthe dual SIM wireless communication device 502 may include multiplememory devices that can be associated with any common volatile ornon-volatile memory type. In some scenarios, the memory may beassociated with a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium thatcan store various computer program instructions, which may be executedby the processor(s) 506 during normal program executions. In thisregard, the memory can be configured to store information, data,applications, instructions, or the like, for enabling the wirelesscommunication device to carry out various functions in accordance withone or more embodiments of the disclosure. In some implementations, thememory may be in communication with, and/or otherwise coupled to, theprocessor(s) 506, as well as one or more system buses for passinginformation between and amongst the different device components of thedual SIM wireless communication device 502.

The dual SIM wireless communication device 502 illustrated in FIG. 5Aincludes two removable UICCs 504A/B, which can be inserted and removedfrom the dual SIM wireless communication device 502 together orindependently. Each UICC 504A/B includes at least one software identitymodule (SIM), which can be embodied as a software/firmware programinstalled on the UICC 504A/B. Removable UICCs 504A/B can provide a userof the dual SIM wireless communication device 502 the ability to replacea UICC to change services, provided the dual SIM wireless communicationdevice 502 supports such flexibility (e.g., an “unlocked” device that isnot “locked” to a particular wireless network operator or serviceprovider). Hardware complexity and/or a size of a wireless communicationdevice can limit the ability to include multiple UICC slots, and thusadditional arrangements for wireless communication devices areillustrated further herein to include multiple SIMs on a single UICCand/or electronic SIMs (eSIMs) on an embedded UICC or combinationsthereof. The dual SIM wireless communication device 502, in someembodiments, can register with two different wireless networks, e.g.,the first and second wireless networks 510A/B, simultaneously. Thewireless circuitry 508 of the dual SIM wireless communication device 502can be configured to register with and/or establish a connection withthe first wireless network 510A via access network equipment 512A, whichinterfaces with a core network 514A. The wireless circuitry 508 of thedual SIM wireless communication device 502 can also be configured toregister with and/or establish a connection with the second wirelessnetwork 510B via access network equipment 512B, which interfaces with acore network 514B. In some embodiments, the wireless circuitry 508 ofthe dual SIM wireless communication device 502 supports simultaneoustransmission and reception to both the first and second wirelessnetworks 510A/B. In some embodiments, the wireless circuitry 508 of thedual SIM wireless communication device 502 supports transmission andreception to only one of the first and second wireless networks 510A/Bat a time. In some embodiments, the wireless circuitry 508 of the dualSIM wireless communication device 502 supports transmission to only oneof the first and second wireless networks 510A/B at a time and receptionfrom one or both of the first and second wireless networks 510A/B. Asthe dual SIM wireless communication device 502 can register with twodifferent wireless networks simultaneously via two differentsubscriptions, the dual SIM wireless communication device 502 can appearas two distinct devices (each associated with a different number, user,and/or subscription). A dual SIM wireless communication device 502 thatcan connect to only one wireless network at a time but can monitorand/or receive communication from two wireless networks with which it isregistered can be referred to as a “Dual SIM, Dual Standby” (DSDS)wireless communication device. A dual SIM wireless communication device502 that can connect to two wireless networks simultaneously using twodifferent subscriber identities can be referred to as a “Dual SIM, DualActive” (DSDA) wireless communication device. In general the dual SIMwireless communication device 502 can be referred to as a “DSDx”wireless communication device, where “x” can indicate either “S” for“standby” or “A” or “active”.

The dual SIM wireless communication device 502 can include two wirelesscellular protocol software stacks, which can run on the one or moreprocessors 506. Each wireless cellular protocol software stack can beassociated with a distinct subscriber identity and can supportcommunication with a wireless network based on the subscriber identity.In some embodiments, each wireless cellular protocol software stack runson its own processor 506, while in other embodiments, both wirelesscellular protocol software stacks run on a common processor 506. Eachwireless cellular protocol software stack can support communicationusing one or more different radio access technologies (RATs), e.g., inaccordance with a set of 2G, 3G, and/or 4G wireless communicationprotocols. In some embodiments a wireless cellular protocol softwarestack can support communication using a single radio access technology(RAT), e.g., 2G GSM or 3G UMTS. As described further herein, thewireless cellular protocol software stacks can communicate with eachother to provide synergy and cooperation in mobility management for thedual SIM wireless communication device 502. In a representativeembodiment, the SIMs contained on the two UICCs 504A/B can be associatedwith the same wireless service provider, in which case the SIMs maysupport connections for the dual SIM wireless communication device 502via the same wireless network. Alternatively, the SIMs contained on thetwo UICCs 504A/B can be associated with different wireless serviceproviders that offer service via the same wireless network, e.g., one asa “home” wireless network and the other as a “roaming” wireless network,or one as a “home” wireless network for a first mobile network operator(also referred to as a wireless carrier or a wireless service provider)and another as a “home” wireless network for a second mobile virtualnetwork operator (MVNO). Thus, in many circumstances, the dual SIMwireless communication device 502 can connect to the same physicalwireless network using two different subscriber identities. When thedual SIMs support connections for the same wireless network operator orfor different wireless network operators via the same wireless network,information used to support wireless connections and mobility of thedual SIM wireless communication device 502 can be shared between the twowireless cellular protocol software stacks. Sharing information betweenthe wireless cellular protocol software stacks can reduce radiofrequency interference and/or reduce conflict between the wirelesscellular protocol software stacks. Sharing information between thewireless cellular protocol software stacks can also reduce powerconsumption of the dual SIM wireless communication device 502, asduplicate operations can be reduced or eliminated.

In some embodiments, the dual SIM wireless communication device 502 canbe configured to force connections for each subscriber identity to usethe same physical wireless network, the same access network equipment,and/or the same cell/radio sector using the same radio access technologyfor the same wireless network when supported. In some embodiments, thefirst and second wireless networks 510A/B can be the same wirelessnetwork, and the wireless circuitry 508 can be connected to the samecell using the same RAT via the same access network equipment 512A/B.The same cell/RAT/access network/wireless network can be used when bothSIMs of the dual SIM wireless communication device 502 are associatedwith the same wireless service provider via a subscription agreement orvia a roaming agreement. Mobility management information, such asneighbor cell lists, neighbor cell measurements, cell reselectionmeasurements, handover processes, etc., can be shared between thewireless cellular protocol software stacks to reduce wasted duplicationof mobility management tasks performed by the dual SIM wirelesscommunication device 502 and to coordinate resources available in thedual SIM wireless communication device 502 for mobility management.

It should be appreciated that not all of the components, deviceelements, and hardware illustrated in and described with respect to thedual SIM wireless communication device 502 of FIG. 5A may be essentialto this disclosure, and thus, some of these items may be omitted,consolidated, or otherwise modified within reason. Additionally, in someimplementations, the subject matter associated with the dual SIMwireless communication device 502 can be configured to includeadditional or substitute components, device elements, or hardware,beyond those depicted within the illustrations of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 5B illustrates diagrams for additional wireless communicationdevices that support multiple subscriber identities using removableUICCs and/or embedded UICCs with subscriber identity modules implementedthereon. As illustrated in diagram 520, a multi-SIM wirelesscommunication device 522 includes multiple UICCs 504, which can beinserted and removed individually or together, and communicate with oneor more processors 506 that connect to wireless circuitry 508 thatprovides for wireless communication with one or more wireless networks510. As the physical size and design of the multi-SIM wirelesscommunication device 522 can limit the number of UICCs 504 that can besupported, alternatively as shown by diagram 530, a multi-eSIM wirelesscommunication device 532 can include an embedded UICC (eUICC) 514connected with the processor(s) 506 and to the wireless network(s) 510via the wireless circuitry 508. The eUICC 514 can be built into themulti-eSIM wireless communication device 532 and can be not removablefrom the multi-eSIM wireless communication device 523, e.g., permanentlyaffixed to a circuit board in the multi-eSIM wireless communicationdevice 523. The eUICC 514 can be programmed such that one or moreelectronic SIMs (eSIMs) can be implemented on the eUICC. Each eSIM canbe associated with a distinct subscriber identity and/or providedistinct services or subscriptions for a user of the multi-eSIM wirelesscommunication device 532. Diagram 540 illustrates a multi-eSIM/SIMwireless communication device 542 that includes a removable UICC 504, onwhich can be installed one or more SIMs, and an eUICC 514 on which oneor more eSIMs can be installed. The combination of SIMs on the UICC 504and/or eSIMs on the eUICC 514 can provide for connections to one or morewireless networks 510 using the wireless circuitry 508 under the controlof the processor(s) 506 of the multi-SIM/eSIM wireless communicationdevice 542. In some embodiments, the multi-SIM/eSIM wirelesscommunication device 542 can generate an eSIM on the eUICC 514 based oninformation and/or applications installed on the removable UICC 504.Diagram 550 illustrates another multi-eSIM/SIM wireless communicationdevice 552 that includes multiple UICCs 504, on which one or more SIMscan be installed, and an eUICC 514, on which one or more eSIMs can beinstalled. The combination of SIMs on the UICC 504 and/or eSIMs on theeUICC 514 can provide for connections to one or more wireless networks510 using the wireless circuitry 508 under the control of theprocessor(s) 506 of the multi-SIM/eSIM wireless communication device552. In some embodiments, the multi-SIM/eSIM wireless communicationdevice 552 can generate an eSIM on the eUICC 514 based on informationand/or applications installed on one or more of the removable UICCs 504.In general, a wireless communication device 102 that supports multiplesubscriber identities can include (i) at least one UICC 504 or at leastone eUICC 514 and (ii) one or more additional UICCs 504. Each UICC 504can support one or more SIMs, and each eUICC 514 can support one or moreeSIMs. A wireless communication device 102 that supports multiplesubscriber identities, e.g., 502, 522, 532, 542, 552, can include acombination of SIMs and/or eSIMs to support communication with one ormore wireless networks 510.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram 600 of components in a multi-eSIMwireless communication device 602. While described in terms of amulti-eSIM wireless communication device 602, the same or similar blocksand functions can exist in a dual SIM wireless communication device 502,a multi-SIM wireless communication device 522, a multi-eSIM wirelesscommunication device 532, or a multi-SIM/eSIM wireless communicationdevice 542/552. The multi-eSIM wireless communication device 602includes wireless circuitry 508, with which to transmit and receiveradio frequency wireless signals, one or more baseband processors 620,with which to process and convert between radio frequency wirelesssignals and digital data, and an application processor 610 coupled tomemory 606, on which a mobile device operating system (OS) 608 and oneor more applications 604 can be stored. The application processor 610can provide higher layer functional processing (e.g., for an applicationlayer and/or for a transport layer), while the baseband processor 620can provide lower layer functional processing (e.g., for a physicallayer, for a medium access control (MAC) layer, and/or for a networklayer). (In some embodiments, the one or more processors 506 of themultiple SIM and/or multiple eSIM wireless communication devicesdescribed for FIGS. 5A and 5B can include the application processor 610and/or the one or more baseband processors 620 as shown for themulti-eSIM wireless communication device 602 of FIG. 6.) An eUICC 618can include its own memory 612 on which is stored an eUICC OS 614 andone or more eSIMs 616 and also can include an eUICC processor 622. TheeUICC memory 612 and the eUICC processor 622 can enable the eUICC OS 622to execute within the eUICC 618 to manage the one or more eSIMs 616. Theapplication processor 610, eUICC processor 622, and the basebandprocessors 620 can operate together to enable the multi-eSIM wirelesscommunication device 602 to establish connections with and accessservices on one or more wireless networks.

FIG. 7A illustrates a diagram 700 of a dual SIM, dual active (DSDA)wireless communication device 702, which includes two removable UICCs504A/B, on which at least two SIMs are installed, e.g., one SIM on eachof the UICCs 504A/B. Each UICC 504A/B can communicate with one or morebaseband processors 620 (e.g., via an application processor 610 and/ordirectly as illustrated in FIG. 6). A first wireless cellular protocolsoftware (SW) stack 704A on the one or more baseband processors 620 cancommunicate with a first wireless network via wireless circuitry 508A,while a second wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B can communicatewith a second wireless network via wireless circuitry 508B. Withparallel wireless circuitry 508A/B, the DSDA wireless communicationdevice 702 can interact with two wireless networks independently withoutrequiring an interface or interaction between the wireless cellularprotocol SW stacks 704A/B. Each of the wireless cellular protocol SWstacks 704A/B can support communication using one or more wirelesscommunication protocols (e.g., a combination of 2G, 3G, and/or 4G) orusing a single wireless communication protocol (e.g., 2G GSM, or 3GUMTS, or 2G CDMA 2000 1×, etc.). With sufficient parallel wirelesscircuitry 508A/B and parallel wireless cellular protocol SW stacks704A/B, the DSDA wireless communication device 702 can be registeredwith two different wireless networks and can form connections with thetwo different wireless networks in parallel and independently. The DSDAwireless communication device 702 can receive notifications (e.g.,paging messages and/or paging indications) from a second wirelessnetwork while connected to a first wireless network, as the parallelwireless circuitry 508A/B permits parallel communication to twodifferent wireless networks. As described further herein, operationalefficiency of the DSDA wireless communication device 702 can be improvedby linking the wireless cellular protocol SW stacks 704A/B together andexchanging protocol information and/or wireless network informationbetween them. Cooperation between the two cellular protocol SW stacks704A/B can provide for sharing tasks used for mobility management of theDSDA wireless communication device 702. In some embodiments, the firstand second wireless networks can be the same wireless network, and theDSDA wireless communication device 702 can communicate with the samewireless network via the two different wireless cellular protocol SWstacks 704A/B and the parallel wireless circuitry 508A/B. When the DSDAwireless communication device 702 is associated with the same wirelessnetwork for two different subscriber identities, the DSDA wirelesscommunication device 702 can operate more efficiently by sharing tasksand/or information between the wireless cellular protocol SW stacks704A/B as described further herein.

FIG. 7B illustrates a diagram 710 for two configurations of dual SIM,dual standby (DSDS) wireless communication devices 712/714. A first DSDSwireless communication device 712 includes two removable UICCs 504A/B,on which at least two SIMs are installed, and each UICC 504A/B cancommunicate with one or more baseband processors 620, on which twowireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B operate. Each wirelesscellular protocol software stack 704A/B can communicate with arespective wireless network via a set of common transmit/receive (Tx/Rx)wireless circuitry 706. In some embodiments, the set of common Tx/Rxwireless circuitry 706 provides for transmission and/or reception by onewireless cellular protocol SW stack 704A or 704B at a time, and thus theDSDA wireless communication device 712 can be associated with two (ormore) wireless networks at the same time but not be able to communicatewith both wireless networks simultaneously. For example, the DSDAwireless communication device 712 can be configured to operate in a timedivision mode that shares the Tx/Rx wireless circuitry 706 among thewireless cellular protocol SW stacks 704A/B. In some embodiments, thewireless cellular protocol SW stacks 704A/B can both operate in an idlemode and listen for paging messages from each of two different wirelessnetworks (e.g., alternate listening for paging messages from eachwireless network by reconfiguring if required the Tx/Rx wirelesscircuitry 706 to receive signals from each wireless network.) When oneof the wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A or 704B operatesin a connected state, the other wireless cellular protocol softwarestack can operate in an idle state with limited access to listen forpaging messages. The idle wireless cellular protocol software stack canbe unable to connect with a wireless network until the connectedwireless cellular protocol software stack transitions from the connectedstate back to an idle state. Thus, the DSDS wireless communicationdevice 712 can permit connections with two different wireless networksusing two different subscriber identities but only one connection at anytime.

In a second configuration of a DSDS wireless communication device 714,as illustrated in FIG. 7B, a shared set of wireless circuitry 708/710A/Bprovides for one transmit path and two parallel receive paths that canbe used simultaneously. Each wireless cellular protocol software stack704A/B can be configured to transmit via a set of transmit (Tx) wirelesscircuitry 708, but only one wireless cellular protocol software stack704A/B can communicate at any one time via the Tx wireless circuitry708. Both wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B can receiveradio frequency wireless signals via respective receive (Rx) wirelesscircuitry 710A/B in parallel. Thus the DSDS wireless communicationdevice 714 can share transmit wireless circuitry 708 between twowireless cellular protocol SW stacks 704A/B, while permittingsimultaneous reception via dedicated (and/or configurable) receivewireless circuitry 710A/B. The DSDS wireless communication device 714can provide for a connection (e.g., bi-directional data and/or signalingcommunication) with only one wireless network at a time; however, pagingmessages (or other control signaling) can be received (e.g., in adownlink direction) from two wireless networks at the same time.Similarly, the parallel Rx wireless circuitry 710A/B can provide forreception of broadcast channels, signaling channels, synchronizationchannels, or other signals from two parallel wireless networks, e.g.,for measurements of cells, as part of reselection and/or handoverprocesses, when searching for wireless networks with which to establishconnections, to perform downlink (DL) synchronization processes, and/orfor associating or registering with wireless networks, etc. The DSDSwireless communication device 714 can be connected to a first wirelessnetwork, e.g., in a voice call, data connection, video call, or otherbi-directional connection with the first wireless network, and canreceive paging messages from a second wireless network at the same time.In some embodiments, the DSDS wireless communication device 714 can beconfigured to permit sharing of the Tx wireless circuitry 708, so that afirst wireless cellular protocol software stack can respond to a pagingmessage from a first wireless network while a second wireless cellularprotocol software stack remains in a connected state with a secondwireless network, e.g., by time sharing the Tx wireless circuitry 708.The DSDS wireless communication device 714, in some embodiments, canprovide for limited communication with two wireless networks, e.g., bysharing the Tx wireless circuitry 708, but not permit two parallel,simultaneous bi-directional (transmit and receive) wireless connectionsto the two wireless networks. In some embodiments, each Rx wirelessreceive circuitry 710A/B can be configured to operate in accordance witha particular radio access technology (RAT), which can be the same RAT insome cases or different RATs in other cases. Each Rx wireless receivecircuitry 710A/B can also be configured to use the same radio frequencyband or different radio frequency bands. Each Rx wireless receivecircuitry 710A/B, in some embodiments, can operate independently fromthe other. In some embodiments, the Rx wireless receive circuitry 710A/Boperations are coordinated, e.g., by the wireless cellular protocolsoftware stacks 704A/B or by other software running on the basebandprocessor(s) 620 (and/or by applications or processes running on anapplication processor). By adding a communication path between thewireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B in the DSDS wirelesscommunication device 712/714, coordination of mobility management taskscan improve operation of the DSDS wireless communication device 712/714,as described further herein.

FIG. 7C illustrates diagrams 720/730 for a multi-SIM, dualaccess/standby (DSDx) wireless communication device 722 and amulti-SIM/eSIM DSDx wireless communication device 732, in accordancewith some embodiments. The multi-SIM DSDx wireless communication device722 includes a first UICC 504A that can be inserted into or removed froma housing/body of the multi-SIM DSDx wireless communication device 722and can communicate with one or more processors, e.g., basebandprocessor(s) 620, of the multi-SIM DSDx wireless communication device722. The first UICC 504A can include one or more SIMs that provide forauthorization and access to services on one or more wireless networksvia the wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704A. In some embodiments,the UICC 504A provides for only one SIM to be installed and/or active onthe UICC 504A at any one time, and the multi-SIM DSDx wirelesscommunication device 722 can be limited to a single slot in which a UICC504 can be installed. In some embodiments, the multi-SIM DSDx wirelesscommunication device 722 supports communication with a UICC accessoryunit 724 in which one or more UICCs 504 can be installed, e.g., as“supplemental” UICCs 504 that support additional subscriber identitiesvia SIMs installed thereon. (The UICC accessory unit 724 can also bereferred to more generally as a wireless accessory device that includesslots/bays for UICCs 504 and a wired or wireless interface forcommunication with a wireless communication device.) The UICC accessoryunit 724 can communicate with the multi-SIM DSDx wireless communicationdevice 722 through one or more wireless and/or wired interfaces 726,e.g., via Bluetooth®, Bluetooth® Low Energy, Wi-Fi, or other wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) or wireless personal area network (WPAN) orradio frequency identification (RFID) connections, and/or via a USB,Lightning™ port, Ethernet port, or other wired connection. The UICC(s)504 in the UICC accessory unit 724 can provide additional SIMs that canenable communication and services with one or more wireless networks,e.g., via the wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B.

The multi-SIM/eSIM DSDx wireless communication device 732 illustrated inFIG. 7C replaces the removable UICC 504A of the multi-SIM DSDx wirelesscommunication device 722 with an embedded UICC (eUICC) 514, on which oneor more eSIMs can reside. The multi-SIM/eSIM DSDx wireless communicationdevice 732 can also utilize a wired or wireless interface 726 to accessSIMs provided on UICCs 504 installed in the UICC accessory unit 724.While FIG. 7C illustrates one wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704Aassociated with the “internal” UICC 504A or the eUICC 514 and a secondwireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B associated with the “external”UICCs 504 in the UICC accessory unit 724, a skilled person can recognizethat the wireless cellular protocol SW stacks 704A/B can be flexiblyassigned under processor control to SIMs and/or to eSIMs on either theinternal eUICC 514 of the multi-SIM/eSIM DSDx wireless communicationdevice 732 or the external UICC(s) 504 of the UICC accessory unity 724.The DSDx wireless communication devices 722/732 illustrated in FIG. 7Cprovide for “remote” access to additional SIMs via wireless and/or wiredconnections to supplement internal SIMs/eSIMs. A single UICC or eUICCwireless communication device can be extended to include access forservices, subscriber identities, and/or additional wireless networksthrough such an arrangement. The UICC accessory unit 724, in someembodiments, can accommodate UICC(s) 504 having different form factors,e.g., 2FF, 3FF, 4FF, or other form factors. The additional “external”SIMs on the UICC(s) 504 in the UICC accessory unit 724 can operateindependently of the “internal” SIMs on the UICC 504A or eUICC 514, insome embodiments, and thus the multi-SIM DSDx wireless communicationdevice 722 and/or the multi-SIM/eSIM DSDx wireless communication device732 can operate as a “legacy” single-SIM (or eSIM) wirelesscommunication device when only one SIM or eSIM is enabled for the DSDxwireless communication device 722/732.

FIG. 8 illustrates representative dual SIM, dual access/standby (DSDx)wireless communication devices 802/810 that include links betweenparallel wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B, e.g., as asoftware (SW) interface (I/F) connection 804 between the wirelesscellular protocol software stacks 704A/B operating on the same basebandprocessor 620, or as a combination of a hardware (HW) interfaceconnection 812 between two baseband processors 620A/B over which asoftware interface 814 between the wireless cellular protocol softwarestacks 704A/B residing on respective baseband processors 620A/B. Theinterfaces 804/812/814 can provide for communication between thewireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B and can enablecooperation and/or synergistic operation of the parallel wirelesscellular protocol software stacks 704A/B. Each wireless cellularprotocol software stack 704A/B can share all or portions of wirelesscircuitry 508 for communication with one or more wireless networks.Coordination of operation between the wireless cellular protocolsoftware stacks 704A/B can provide for more efficient use of thewireless circuitry of the dual SIM DSDx wireless communication devices802/810. The parallel wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/Bcan also exchange information between them. Information sharing andcoordination of operation can result in greater efficiency of operation,e.g., for mobility management operations such as when searching forwireless networks, measuring cells of wireless networks, reselectingbetween cells of wireless networks, handover between cells of wirelessnetworks, determining wireless circuitry settings for communication withcells of wireless networks, gathering and sharing wireless networkand/or cell specific parameters, etc. In some embodiments, multiplebaseband processors 620A/B are connected directly via the hardwareinterface 812, while in some embodiments, the multiple basebandprocessors 620A/B are connected individually via interfaces (and/orbuses) to a common processor (not shown), e.g., an applicationprocessor. In some embodiments, a “direct” hardware interface 812 canprovide a real-time or near real-time interface. In some embodiments, an“indirect” hardware interface (not shown) via another processor canprovide a non-real-time interface.

FIG. 9 illustrates master/slave relationships for two parallel wirelesscellular protocol software stacks 704A/B, which can operate in awireless communication device 102, e.g., in a multiple SIM/eSIM DSDxwireless communication device as illustrated in any of FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6,7A, 7B, 7C, and 8. The two parallel wireless cellular protocol softwarestacks 704A/B can provide for communication with two wireless networksbased on two subscriber identities embodied in SIM(s) and/or in eSIM(s).When two SIM(s) and/or eSIM(s) are associated with the same wirelessservice provider or with two different wireless service providers thatoffer access via the same physical wireless network, e.g., through aroaming arrangement, the two wireless cellular protocol software stacks704A/B can operate cooperatively to connect to the same wirelessnetwork, via the same wireless access network, using the same radioaccess technology, and via the same cell of the same wireless accessnetwork. The wireless communication device 102 can be registered forservice in parallel with two wireless networks that share (at least inpart) the same physical infrastructure. In some embodiments, processinghardware/software in the wireless communication device 102 can forceeach of the dual, parallel wireless cellular protocol software stacks704A/B to operate using the same physical wireless network, e.g., via aparticular cell (or cells) of an access portion of the physical wirelessnetwork. The single wireless communication device 102 can appear as twodifferent subscribers, two distinct phone numbers, and/or two uniquelyidentifiable wireless devices to the wireless network in parallel. Asthe wireless communication device 102 is associated with and/orconnected via the same cell of the same physical wireless network,parameters for operation with the wireless network, such as signalingchannel frequencies, operative radio frequency bands, neighbor celllists, intra-RAT and inter-RAT cells/networks, downlink (from wirelessnetwork cell to the wireless communication device 102) cellmeasurements, cell reselection/handover sets, etc. can be shared betweenthe parallel wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B.Cooperation between and synergistic operation of the parallel wirelesscellular protocol software stacks 704A/B can reduce radio frequencyinterference and/or conflict between the two wireless cellular protocolsoftware stacks 704A/B, can reduce power consumption by the wirelesscommunication device 102 (e.g., by eliminating duplicate wirelessmobility management operations), and can reduce radio frequency“tune-away” time periods when the dual, parallel wireless cellularsoftware stacks 704A/B share common radio frequency wireless circuitry.

In a first configuration 900, a first wireless cellular protocolsoftware stack 704A can operate as a “master” stack, while a secondwireless cellular protocol software stack 704B can operate as a “slave”stack. In a second configuration 910, the first wireless cellularprotocol software stack 704A can operate as the “slave” stack, while thesecond wireless cellular protocol software stack 704B can operate as the“master” stack. In some embodiments, when both wireless protocolsoftware stacks 704A/B operate in an idle mode, either one or the otherof the wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B can be selectedas the “master” stack while the other can be selected as the “slave”stack. The “slave” stack can follow radio frequency operations asdictated by the “master” stack, e.g., as communicated through thesoftware interface 804 between the “slave” stack and the “master” stack.When one of the wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A or 704Boperates in a connected mode, while the other wireless cellular protocolsoftware stack 704B or 704A operates in an idle mode, the “connected”wireless cellular protocol software stack 704A or 704B can act as the“master” stack, and the “idle” cellular protocol software stack 704B or704A can act as the “slave” stack. In some embodiments, when bothwireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B operate in a connectedmode, the wireless cellular protocol software stack 704 A or 704B thatfirst entered the connected mode can act as the “master” stack, whilethe other cellular protocol software stack 704B or 704A that entered theconnected mode later can act as the “slave” stack. Thus, as illustratedby the configuration diagrams 900 and 910, either of the wirelesscellular protocol software stacks 704A/B can operate as the “master”stack or the “slave” stack depending on a mode of operation, e.g., anidle mode or a connected mode, of the respective wireless cellularprotocol software stacks 704 A/B. Table 920 summarizes master/slaverelationships for the wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/Bwhen operating in either the idle mode or the connected mode. In someembodiments, operation in a paging channel (PCH) state (or mode) canmimic operation as described herein for an idle mode.

Each wireless cellular software protocol stack 704A/B, when in an idlemode or in a PCH state, can monitor for paging messages on a pagingchannel using their own unique identifier, i.e., each subscriberidentity, when registered with a wireless network, can be assigned anidentifier, which can be included in paging messages transmitted by thewireless network to indicate that the particular paging message isintended for the wireless communication device 102 associated with thesubscriber identity. As the same wireless communication device 102 canbe associated with two different subscriber identities simultaneously,each wireless cellular protocol software stack 704A/B can listen for itsown paging messages. The “master” stack can monitor a paging channel formessages with a “master” stack identifier (ID), while the “slave” stackcan monitor the paging channel for messages with a “slave” stack ID.With shared Rx wireless circuitry, the “master” and “slave” stacks caneach monitor during their own time periods. Alternatively, with parallelRx wireless circuitry, the “master” and “slave” stacks can monitor forpaging messages in parallel. As both the “master” and “slave” stacks canbe associated with the same cell, only one of the wireless cellularprotocol stacks, i.e., the “master” stack, performs mobility managementtasks, e.g., serving cell measurements, neighbor cell measurements,including both intra-RAT and inter-RAT measurements, and cellreselection processes, while the “slave” stack obtains information anddirection for mobility management from the “master” stack. The “slave”stack can leverage information provided by the “master” stack includingcell measurements, cell reselection, and/or physical layer wirelesscircuitry settings, such as used for frequency control, phase control,gain control, etc., as the “slave” stack and the “master” stack connectto the same cell of the same wireless network via wireless circuitry ofthe same wireless communication device 102. The “master” stack caninitiate cell reselection, and the “slave” stack can follow the “master”stack to reselect to the same new cell as directed by the “master”stack. In some embodiments, the “master” stack can read the broadcastchannel (BCH) of a new cell during a cell reselection procedure, and the“slave” stack can obtain information for the BCH from the “master”stack, rather than read the same BCH in parallel. Whenever possible toreduce power consumption and duplication of tasks, the “slave” stack canleverage information obtained and/or determined by the “master” stack.

When one wireless cellular protocol software stack is in a connectedmode, while the other wireless cellular protocol software stack is in anidle mode, the connected mode wireless cellular protocol software stackcan act as a “master” stack, while the idle mode wireless cellularprotocol software stack can act as a “slave” stack. While in theconnected mode, the “master” stack can communicate with the wirelessnetwork to transfer data and to send and receive signaling messages. The“master” stack can also perform measurements of the serving cell and ofneighbor cells, which can be used by either the “master” stack or the“slave” stack. The “master” stack can perform evaluation of the servingcell and the neighbor cells in order to determine whether a reselectionprocedure (for the idle mode stack) and a handover procedure (for theconnected mode stack) is warranted. The “master” stack can communicatewith the wireless network to provide information and exchange signalingmessages in accordance with a particular radio access technology and/orwireless communication protocol in use to perform the cell reselectionand handover process (under the direction of the wireless network). The“slave” stack in the idle mode can monitor for paging messages intendedfor the subscriber identity associated with the “slave” stack. The“slave” stack can leverage information provided by the “master” stack,e.g., physical layer cell measurement information and/or wirelesscircuitry settings, and can thus reduce duplication of effort betweenthe “master” and “slave” stacks when associated with the same wirelessnetwork and when communicating and listening to messages from the samecell of the same access network portion of the wireless network. The“slave” stack can follow the reselection/handover process under thedirection of the “master” stack to reselect to the same cell as the“master” stack uses for handover. In general, the “idle” stack can beassigned a minimal set of tasks to perform, e.g., monitoring for pagingmessages having its own identifier, while leveraging informationgathered and/or generated by the “master” stack. The “slave” stack canalso relinquish decisions for cell reselection to the “master” stack,which can determine for both wireless cellular protocol stacks when andto which cell to reselect/handover. The “slave” stack can operateeffectively in a “reduced” power consumption mode by executing theminimal set of tasks. In select circumstances, the “slave” stack can berequired to perform additional tasks normally executed by the “master”stack, e.g., when the “master” stack is not able to perform certaintasks during a cell reselection/handover process. In a particularexample, the “master” stack can designate to the “slave” stack toperform reception on a broadcast channel (BCH) of a target cell and/ornew cell to which the “master” and “slave” stacks will reselect/handoverto (or to which they have already reselected/handed over). During ahandover process, when the “master” stack enters a UMTS CELL PCH state,the “slave” stack, which can have reselected to the target cell, canread the BCH of the new cell when the “master” stack is unable to readthe BCH of the new cell.

When both wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B are in aconnected mode, one of the wireless cellular protocol stacks 704A/B canbe designated the “master” stack, while the other can be designated the“slave” stack. As each wireless cellular protocol software stack 704A or704B can enter the “connected” mode at different times, the firstcellular protocol software stack 704A or 704B to enter the “connected”mode can be designated the “master” stack, while the second cellularprotocol software stack 704A or 704B to transition from the “idle” modeto the “connected” mode can remain as a “slave” stack (which property itcan be assigned when in the “idle” mode and the other stack enters the“connected” mode). As indicated by the table 920 in FIG. 9, when bothwireless cellular software protocol stacks 704A/B are in an “idle” mode,one of the wireless cellular software protocol stacks 704A or 704B canbe designated the “master” stack, while the other wireless cellularsoftware protocol stack 704B or 704A can be designated the “idle” stack.When the designated “idle” mode stack transitions to become a“connected” mode stack and the other “idle” mode stack remains in the“idle” mode, whichever stack enters the “connected” mode becomes the new“master” stack, while the remaining “idle” mode stack remains or becomesthe new “slave” stack. Thus, a “slave” stack in an “idle” mode thattransitions to a “connected” mode becomes a “master” stack in the“connected” mode, while the previous “master” stack that remains in the“idle” mode becomes a “slave” stack. Similarly, when both wirelesscellular protocol software stacks 704A/B are in a “connected” mode, andthe “master” stack transitions to an “idle” mode, the remaining“connected” mode stack becomes the new “master” stack, while theprevious “master” stack becomes the new “slave” stack in the “idle”mode. When both wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B are inthe “connected” mode, the “master” stack can communicate with thewireless network to exchange data packets and signaling messages andperform serving cell and neighbor cell measurements. The “slave” stackcan also communicate with the wireless network to exchange data packetsand signaling messages and can leverage cell measurement informationprovided by the “master” stack. Thus, the “slave” stack can reportsignal strength measurement reports to the wireless network having thesame information as the “master” stack. By providing the same signalstrength measurements to the wireless network, the “master” stack and“slave” stack can both trigger handover by the wireless network for therespective stacks. The “master” stack can perform a cell handoverevaluation for both the “master” stack and the “slave” stack and caninitiate handover with the wireless network (under commands from thewireless network). The “slave” stack can follow the “master” stackduring a cell handover process, e.g., under the direction of the“master” stack and the wireless network. The “slave” stack can alsoleverage physical layer information for its own connection with thewireless network based on information determined and/or gathered by the“master” stack and provided to the “slave” stack. Representativephysical layer information can include settings for wireless circuitryin the wireless communication device 102, e.g., as used for frequencycontrol, gain control, phase control, etc.

During a cell reselection/handover process, the wireless network cansend signaling messages that command the “master” stack and the “slave”stack to transition from the current cell to the target cell atdifferent times (as each wireless cellular protocol software stack canbe associated with a distinct subscriber identity, and from the point ofview of the wireless network, the wireless communication device 102 canbe two distinct “devices”, i.e., the wireless network can be unable todistinguish between two SIMs operating on the same wirelesscommunication device 102 from two SIMs operating on two differentwireless communication devices 102.) The wireless network can receivemeasurement reports (or other signaling messages, such as channel stateinformation reports) from the “master” stack and the “slave” stacknearly at the same time. The wireless network can determine when totransition each distinct subscriber identity to a new cell (via handoveror reselection) at different times. Because the cell reselection orhandover signaling messages from the wireless network can be sent atdifferent times, the “slave” stack can receive the reselection/handovercommand at a different time than the “master” stack. FIG. 10 illustratesa diagram 1000 of a “master” stack and a “slave” stack transitioning(via handover) from a first cell to a second cell. The “master” stackcan operate in a “normal” mode while connected to the first cell (cell1), while the “slave” stack can operate in a “light” mode (e.g.,performing a reduced set of tasks) while connected to the first cell(cell 1). When the “master” stack completes handover to a second cell(cell 2) before the “slave” stack, e.g., as indicated in FIG. 10, the“slave” stack can transition from the “light” mode back to a “normal”mode of operation with the first cell (cell 1) until the “slave” stackcompletes its own handover to the second cell (cell 2), after which the“slave” stack can return to the “light” mode. Transitioning the “slave”stack to a “normal” mode of operation after the “master” stack completeshandover to the second cell (cell 2) and before the “slave” stackcompletes handover to the second cell (cell 2) can provide for continuedcommunication between the first cell (cell 1) and the “slave” stack (asthe “master” stack is no longer communicating with the first cell, oncehandover completes). If handover of the “slave” stack to the second cell(cell 2) does not complete, or if handover of the “slave” stack to athird cell (not shown) occurs, then the “slave” stack can becomedecoupled from the “master” stack and can continue to operate in a“normal” mode on its own rather than in a “subservient” mode to the“master” stack.

Two wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B can cooperatetogether and provide synergistic performance not only when connected tothe same wireless network, e.g., via the same cell and same accessnetwork, as described hereinabove, but also when connected to twodifferent cells, access networks, and/or wireless networks. The twocellular protocol software stacks 704A/B can work together usingwireless circuitry to which they are connected (e.g., when configured tohave their own transmit/receive wireless circuitry 508A/B as illustratedin FIG. 7A, or when sharing all or portions of transmit/receive wirelesscircuitry 706/708/710A/B as illustrated in FIG. 7B. Mobility managementtasks, e.g., searching for wireless networks, measuring cells ofwireless networks, gathering wireless network broadcast information,etc., can be divided between the two wireless cellular protocol softwarestacks 704A/B, e.g., to reduce duplication of tasks and/or to acceleratesearch/measurement processes.

The two wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B can operate intandem using respective radio frequency wireless circuitry to search forpublic land mobile networks (PLMNs) for one or more subscriberidentities. In some embodiments, search tasks can be split between thetwo wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B based on radioaccess technologies available and/or in use. In some embodiments, searchtasks can be split between the wireless cellular protocol softwarestacks 704A/B based on radio frequency bands available and/or in use.Each wireless cellular protocol software stack 704A/B can search asubset of radio access technologies and radio frequency bands for bothsubscriber identities (rather than have the search duplicated by bothwireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B). A first wirelesscellular software stack 704A or 704B can determine an allocation ofradio access technologies and/or radio frequency bands over which tosearch and can provide information to a second cellular software stack704B or 704A in order to realize an efficient (both in time to completeand in power consumption required) PLMN search.

FIG. 11 illustrates a diagram 1100 in which two parallel wirelesscellular protocol software stacks 704A/B share a process of searchingfor PLMNs. Stack A determines a division of tasks by allocating radioaccess technologies and radio frequency bands between Stack A and StackB. An indication of tasks can be provided by Stack A to Stack B. Eachstack can subsequently perform a PLMN search in parallel for bothsubscriber identities for its allocated radio access technologies andradio frequency bands. The two parallel wireless cellular protocolsoftware stacks 704A/B can share the complete PLMN search cooperativelyto balance the effort required to perform the PLMN search between them.The representative example illustrated in FIG. 11 shows Stack Aperforming PLMN searches for 3G radio access technologies and for a setof radio frequency bands (B34, B38, B39, B40) for 4G radio accesstechnologies. Simultaneously, Stack B performs PLMN searches for 2Gradio access technologies and for a different set of radio frequencybands (B1, B2, B3) for the same (or for overlapping) 4G radio accesstechnologies. Stack B can provide the search results, once obtained, toStack A for subsequent decisions required for concluding the PLMNsearch. The synergistic use of dual resources on the two parallelwireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B can occur when bothstacks are available, e.g., in an idle mode, and can be precluded whenone stack is in a connected mode, in some embodiments. A second stack ina connected mode can remain in a connected mode and not share in a PLMNsearch while in the connected mode, in some embodiments, e.g., in orderto not interrupt the active connection of the second stack. In someembodiments, each stack and/or subscriber identity can be associatedwith its own primary radio access technology and/or with a list orpreferred radio access technologies, and Stack A can account for thisassignment and/or preference when allocating tasks for the PLMN search.In some embodiments, a stack can perform intra-RAT measurements for itsown primary RAT and/or for one or more preferred RATs and share theinformation gathered from the measurements with another stack.(Duplication of measurements, however, when both stacks have the sameprimary RAT or preference list should be avoided.) Preferentially, astack can perform intra-RAT searches over inter-RAT searches, which canbe more disruptive and require (more) retuning of wireless circuitry inthe wireless communication device.

FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram 1200 of two wireless cellular protocolsoftware stacks 704A/B sharing a set of cell measurement tasks betweenthem. One or both of the wireless cellular protocol software stacks704A/B can operate cooperatively (coordinate with one another) todetermine and divide up neighbor cell measurement tasks, to assess cellswith different radio access technologies, and/or to measure differentradio frequency bands. The measurement tasks can be divided between thetwo parallel cellular software stacks 704A/B. The following informationcan be used to determine an efficient division of tasks, in someembodiments, namely, a power consumption estimate for each task, a radioresource control (RRC) state for a wireless cellular protocol softwarestack (e.g., whether operating in an idle mode or a connected mode,and/or when operating in a particular connected state of a connectedmode), a coverage strength of a serving cell for the stack, particularsets of radio access technologies associated with, preferred by,recently used, and/or having a history of use for a particular stack,and particular radio frequency bands associated with, preferred by,recently used, and/or having a history of use for a particular stack. Ina representative embodiment, one wireless cellular protocol softwarestack can be associated with a serving cell for a particular radioaccess technology, e.g., a 4G LTE/LTE-A cell, and the other wirelesscellular protocol software stack can be associated with a legacy radioaccess technology, e.g., a 2G GSM or 3G UMTS cell. Each wirelesscellular protocol software stack can perform cell measurements for itsown serving cell and for neighbor cells having the same radio accesstechnology of the serving cell with which it is associated and canprovide the neighbor cell information to the other wireless cellularprotocol software stack. A wireless cellular protocol software stackassociated with a particular radio access technology can performintra-RAT measurements for that particular radio access technology. Whenboth wireless cellular protocol software stacks are associated with thesame radio access technology (not necessarily the same cell or wirelessnetwork), the neighbor cell measurements can be divided between them orperformed by only one of the wireless cellular protocol software stacks.

FIG. 12 illustrates measurement of serving cells first, by each wirelesscellular protocol software stack, followed by measurement of cells fordifferent non-overlapping radio access technologies. Thus, stack Ameasures 2G neighbor cells and 4G frequency division duplex (FDD)neighbor cells, while stack B measures 3G neighbor cells and 4G timedivision duplex (TDD) neighbor cells. Upon completion of measurements ofneighbor cells by the two wireless cellular protocol software stacks,information gathered can be shared between the wireless cellularprotocol software stacks. In some embodiments, information can be sharedfor each radio access technology as obtained (not shown). Thecoordination of neighbor cell measurement tasks can repeat, and thedivision of tasks can change over time. It can be preferred to assignwireless cellular protocol software stacks to neighbor cells for whichthe search can be most efficient, to minimize switching between radioaccess technologies and to minimize power consumption to complete theneighbor cell measurements across a set of radio access technologies. Awireless cellular protocol software stack can preferentially measurecells with which coverage appears to be good rather than poor, e.g.,when two wireless cellular protocol stacks are associated with differentcells but having the same radio access technology, the wireless cellularprotocol software stack with the better coverage, which can provide moreaccurate results, can perform the measurements preferentially over thewireless cellular protocol software stack that has the poorer coverage.

In addition to sharing neighbor cell measurements between the wirelesscellular protocol software stacks, additional information gathered bythe wireless cellular protocol software stacks can be shared, e.g., wheneach wireless cellular protocol software stack is connected to the samePLMN or to “equal” PLMNs. For example, the two wireless cellularprotocol software stacks can be associated with subscriber identitiesfor SIMs/eSIMs from the same wireless service provider or from differentwireless service providers, such as when one wireless cellular protocolsoftware stack is “roaming” onto another wireless service provider'swireless network. When the same PLMN or “equal” PLMNs is/are used by thewireless cellular protocol software stacks, information provided bybroadcast messages for mobility management can be shared between thewireless cellular protocol software stacks. For example, lists offorbidden PLMNs, broadcast control channel (BCCH) frequency allocationlists, lists of available PLMNs, routing area codes, location areacodes, tracking areas, lists of neighbor cell frequencies, neighbor celllists, forbidden cell lists, and other system broadcast information(e.g., as contained in system information block (SIB) messages) can beshared between the wireless cellular protocol software stacks. Cellspecific information that can provide for faster and/or more accurateconnections and/or associations for stacks with cells, such as physicallayer information, synchronization information, radio frequency wirelesscircuitry settings, adaptive frequency control (AFC) settings, adaptivegain control (AGC) settings, adaptive phase control (APC) settings, etc.can also be shared to assist with mobility management for the wirelesscellular protocol software stacks.

During a handover or reselection process, when one of the wirelesscellular protocol software stacks has exact target cell information, theinformation can be shared with the other wireless cellular protocolsoftware stack to accelerate the handover or reselection process.Information that can prove useful includes cell synchronization data,frequency offset values, automatic gain control values, broadcast systeminformation, and cell measurements. Rather than have each wirelesscellular protocol software stack measure cells, determine settings, andgather information for cells of wireless networks, information from eachwireless cellular protocol software stack can be shared with the otherwireless cellular protocol software stack.

During a circuit-switched fallback (CSFB) procedure, a wireless cellularprotocol software stack can suspend communication with an LTE wirelessnetwork in order to listen for pages and/or respond to a pagingindication to receive a mobile terminated call or to initiate a mobileoriginated call via a legacy wireless network. When one wirelesscellular protocol software stack has information for a “target” cellthat can be used for performing the CSFB procedure, the wirelesscellular protocol software stack can share the information with anotherwireless cellular protocol software stack, which need not thenregenerate the information for the target cell of the legacy wirelessnetwork. In some embodiments, one wireless cellular protocol softwarestack can operate on a 2G or 3G legacy wireless network, while the otherwireless cellular protocol software stack can operate on a 4G LTE/LTE-Awireless network. When the wireless cellular protocol software stackoperating on the 4G LTE/LTE-A wireless network executes a CSFB procedure(e.g., to initiate or to receive a circuit-switched voice connection viaa 2G or 3G legacy wireless network) or when the wireless cellularprotocol software stack executes a single radio voice call continuity(SRVCC) procedure that transitions a voice connection from the 4GLTE/LTE-A voice over IP (VoIP) and Internet multimedia subsystem (IMS)packet-switched domain to a legacy circuit-switched domain, the wirelesscellular protocol software stack can reuse 2G or 3G target cellinformation from the wireless cellular protocol software stack operatingon the 2G or 3G wireless network, in some circumstances. For example,when the target 2G or 3G cell of the legacy 2G or 3G wireless network isalready in use, recently used, or for which a history of use isavailable from the wireless cellular protocol software stack associatedwith the 2G or 3G wireless network, the wireless cellular protocolsoftware stack that is executing the CSFB or SRVCC procedure can reuseinformation provided by the other wireless cellular protocol softwarestack. Reuse of target cell information can reduce an interrupt timeduration for the wireless cellular protocol software stack that isexecuting the CSFB or SRVCC procedure. Representative information thatcan be shared between wireless cellular protocol software stacks toimprove CSFB or SRVCC procedures (rather than operating blindly) caninclude cell synchronization information, frequency offset values,automatic gain control values, etc., as well as broadcast systeminformation for the target cell and the target cell's legacy 2G or 3Gwireless network. In addition, measurement information for the targetcell and/or for other cells of the 2G or 3G legacy wireless network canalso prove useful.

As described for FIGS. 7A to 7C, a dual SIM, dual active (DSDA) wirelesscommunication device 702 can support two active connections to one ormore wireless networks by using parallel wireless circuitry 508A/Bcoupled to parallel wireless cellular protocol SW stacks 704A/B. Withindependent and parallel wireless circuitry 508A/B, the DSDA wirelesscommunication device 702 can receive an incoming connection notificationfor a wireless network via wireless circuitry 508B and via wirelesscellular protocol SW stack 704B, while the DSDA wireless communicationdevice 702 is also connected to another wireless network (or the samewireless network) via wireless circuitry 508A and via wireless cellularprotocol SW stack 704A. Each wireless circuitry 508A and 508B canoperate simultaneously, and a user of the wireless communication device702 can initiate a second connection or receive a second connectionwhile a first connection is active. For a dual SIM, dual standby (DSDS)wireless communication device 712/714, with at least a portion ofwireless circuitry (e.g., Tx/Rx wireless circuitry 706 or Tx wirelesscircuitry 708) shared by both wireless cellular protocol software stacks704A/B, two simultaneous connections can be not supported. For DSDSwireless communication devices 712/714, a user can seek to at leastreceive notification of an incoming connection (which can come from aseparate wireless network or from the same wireless network) for asecond subscriber identity while connected using a first subscriberidentity. FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate diagrams 1300/1400 of messageexchanges between a wireless communication device 102 (e.g., a DSDSwireless communication device 712 or 714), in which an incomingconnection notification or a short message service (SMS) can be receivedby the wireless communication device 102.

FIG. 13 illustrates a diagram 1300 of a message exchange sequencebetween a wireless communication device 102 and network elements of awireless network, e.g., a radio access network 128 network element and acore network 112 network element. The wireless communication device 102can be a DSDS wireless communication device 714 that includes separateRx wireless circuitry 710A/B for two wireless cellular protocol softwarestacks 704A/B respectively and a single Tx wireless circuitry 708 sharedby both wireless cellular protocol software stacks 704A/B. When onewireless cellular protocol software stack 704A or 704B operates in aconnected mode, e.g., in a voice connection and/or data connection,using a first subscriber identity, the second wireless cellular protocolsoftware stack 704B or 704A can receive a paging message and/or a pagingindication addressed to the second subscriber identity via its ownassociated Rx wireless circuitry 710B or 710A. In order to respond to apaging message, the DSDS wireless communication device 714 cantemporarily divert the Tx wireless circuitry from the existingconnection in order to provide limited communication in response to thepaging message. In some embodiments, the DSDS wireless communicationdevice 714 can receive information associated with the paging message,e.g., an indication of a “purpose” of the paging message and/or anidentification of the originator that seeks to establish a connectionwith the DSDS wireless communication device 714, such as a phone numberfor the “calling” party that caused the paging message to reach the DSDSwireless communication device 714. While the DSDS wireless communicationdevice 714 can be unable to engage in two simultaneous connections, atleast a limited amount of information for the user of the DSDS wirelesscommunication device 714 can be obtained to provide to the user forfurther actions. Thus, a DSDS wireless communication device 714, whileactively engaged in a call/connection using a first subscriber identity,can receive information for a call/connection for a second subscriberidentity without dropping the first connection, without missing anindication of the incoming connection request, and obtaining at leastsome (albeit limited) information associated with the incomingconnection request.

As illustrated by the diagram 1300 of FIG. 13, a core network 112 of awireless network can send a paging request to the wireless communicationdevice 102 (e.g., DSDS wireless communication device 714) via a radioaccess network 128. The wireless communication device 102 can receivethe paging message via a set of Rx wireless circuitry (e.g., Rx wirelesscircuitry 710B coupled to wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B) thatlistens for paging messages addressed to a subscriber identity (e.g., ofa SIM on UICC 504B), while another set of Rx wireless circuitry (e.g.,Rx wireless circuitry 710A) and a set of Tx wireless circuitry (e.g., Txwireless circuitry 708) are simultaneously engaged in a separateconnection associated with another subscriber identity (e.g., of anotherSIM on UICC 504A). To simplify the explanation, and without loss ofgenerality, the remaining discussion will use the representative DSDSwireless communication device 714 for the wireless communication device102. The DSDS wireless communication device 714 can switch the Txwireless circuitry 708 from the “connected” wireless cellular protocolSW stack 704A to the “idle” wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B andthen execute a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the radioaccess network 128 from which the paging message was received. Both theTx wireless circuitry 708 and the Rx wireless circuitry 710B can be usedby the “idle” wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B during the RACHprocedure. Upon completion of the RACH procedure, the DSDS wirelesscommunication device 714 can send a paging response message to the corenetwork 112 via the radio access network 128 responding to the pagingmessage. The core network 112 and DSDS wireless communication device 714can perform an authentication procedure (indicated by the authenticationrequest received from the wireless network and the authenticationresponse sent to the wireless network). Following the authenticationprocedure, the DSDS wireless communication device 714 can switch the Txwireless circuitry 708 from the “idle” wireless cellular protocol SWstack 704B back to the “connected” wireless cellular protocol SW stack704A. The DSDS wireless communication device 714 can receive a securitymode command from the core network 112 via the radio access network 128via the Rx wireless circuitry 710B and in response switch the Txwireless circuitry 708 back to the “idle” wireless cellular protocol SWstack 704B in order to provide a response to the wireless network, e.g.,sending a security mode “complete” response message. The core network112 can then send a message to establish a connection with the DSDSwireless communication device 714 that includes information, e.g., the“Setup” message can include a “calling number” identification. The DSDSwireless communication device 714 can respond by sending a “callconfirmed” message back to the core network 112 via the radio accessnetwork 128 using the Tx wireless circuitry 708. The “call confirmed”message can include an indication that a user of the DSDS wirelesscommunication device 704 is “busy” and can thus not receive therequested mobile terminated connection. The DSDS wireless communicationdevice 714 can then execute a channel release procedure with the radioaccess network 128 to drop the connection used for the exchange ofsignaling information. While the DSDS wireless communication device 714does not “accept” the incoming connection request, at least someinformation about the incoming connection request is gathered for theuser of the DSDS wireless communication device 714. The sequenceillustrated in FIG. 13 can require a minimal amount of time and candivert the Tx wireless circuitry 708 away from the “connected” wirelesscellular protocol SW stack 704A to support receipt of information forthe “idle” wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B for as short a timeperiod as feasible. During the procedure as indicated in FIG. 13, theDSDS wireless communication device 714 can switch the Tx wirelesscircuitry 708 back and forth between the “idle” wireless cellularprotocol SW stack 704B and the “connected” wireless cellular protocol SWstack 704A to respond to the “incoming call” wireless network and alsoto continue to support transfer of voice packets (or data packets) forthe already established connection. The message exchange sequenceoutlined in FIG. 13 provides for capturing “missed call” information bythe DSDS wireless communication device 714 for one SIM/eSIM, whileminimally interrupting an active connection for a second SIM/eSIM. Asindicated in FIG. 13, a time between a paging response message sent fromthe DSDS wireless communication device 714 to receipt of a callconfirmed (with user busy indication) message by the wireless networkthat sent the original paging request can be approximately 1-2 seconds.In addition, the Tx wireless circuitry 708 can be diverted back to the“connected” wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704A during the processin order to support continuation of the existing connection. Thesequence shown can be minimally disruptive to the existing connection,while gleaning important incoming call information for the requestedconnection from the requesting wireless network. The information can bestored and/or displayed by the DSDS wireless communication device 714 toprovide the “missed call” information to the user of the DSDS wirelesscommunication device 714.

FIG. 14 illustrates a diagram 1400 of a message exchange sequencebetween a wireless communication device 102, e.g., DSDS wirelesscommunication device 714, and network elements, e.g., radio accessnetwork 128 and core network 112, of a wireless network in order toreceive an SMS message for an “idle” wireless cellular protocol SW stack704B while actively connected to a wireless network via a “connected”wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704A. As with FIG. 13, the followingdiscussion, without loss of generality, will use the DSDS wirelesscommunication device 714 as a representative wireless communicationdevice 102 to execute the message exchange sequence. The DSDS wirelesscommunication device 714 can be actively connected via the “connected”wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704A and can receive a connectionrequest (for an SMS message) for an “idle” wireless cellular protocol SWstack 704B. The DSDS wireless communication device 714 can perform aRACH procedure in order to respond to the paging request and to send apaging response. The wireless network that sent the paging request canauthenticate with the DSDS wireless communication device 714 via anauthentication request and response exchange. The DSDS wirelesscommunication device 714 can use Tx wireless circuitry 708 during theRACH procedure, for the paging response, and for the authenticationresponse, temporarily diverting the Tx wireless circuitry 708 from the“connected” wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704A to the “idle”wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B. The DSDS wirelesscommunication device 714 can switch the Tx wireless circuitry 708 fromthe “idle” wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B back to the“connected” wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704A during the messageexchange sequence, when possible, in order to continue the activeconnection and minimize interruption. Following a security mode exchangesequence, the DSDS wireless communication device 714 can receive acontrol protocol data (CP-DATA) message that includes the SMS messageaddressed to the subscriber identity associated with the “idle” wirelesscellular protocol SW stack 704B. The “idle” wireless cellular protocolSW stack 704B can respond with a CP-DATA acknowledgement (ACK) message.The core network 112 can close the SMS exchange by sending a clearcommand to the radio access network 128, and the DSDS wirelesscommunication device 714 can release the channel used for the briefexchange with the radio access network 128. The Tx wireless circuitry708 can be diverted from the “connected” wireless cellular protocol SWstack 704A to the “idle” wireless cellular protocol SW stack 704B for aminimum period of time during the message exchange sequence in order toestablish signaling connections with the radio access network 128 andcore network 112 in order to receive the SMS message. As an SMS messagecan be limited in length, the message exchange sequence illustrated inFIG. 14 can require a minimal amount of time and can provide forsuccessful reception of an SMS message for a second subscriber identitywhile engaged in an active connection with a first subscriber identityin a DSDS wireless communication device 714 that uses shared Tx wirelesscircuitry 708.

DSDx wireless communication devices (or more generally multi-SIM/eSIMwireless communication devices) as described herein can provide to auser thereof flexibility to communicate using multiple subscriberidentities that can be associated with different wireless servicesand/or different wireless networks. A DSDx wireless communication devicecan register using two subscriber identities with the same wirelessnetwork or with two different cellular wireless networks simultaneously.Each registration can be associated with a separate subscription (e.g.,a phone number) so that the DSDx wireless communication device canappear to the wireless network(s) as two different users. A user caninitiate and/or receive voice connections and SMS messages using bothsubscriptions. In some embodiments, a user can associate onesubscription with packet-switched data connections, e.g., for Internetaccess or other packet data services. The user's preference for use byone subscription for packet-switched data services can be based on acombination of services available, wireless network capability,subscription costs, etc. Rather than have a fixed association between aparticular subscription (and its associated wireless cellular protocolsoftware stack), it can be preferred to assign flexibly packet-switcheddata connections with different subscriptions, i.e., to adaptivelyassociate packet-switched data connections with two different wirelesscellular protocol SW stacks rather than remain fixed by a userdesignated setting. In some embodiments, the user can specify a defaultsubscription for packet-switched data connections but can also allow theDSDx wireless communication device to select the “best” subscription(and an associated stack/SIM/eSIM/subscriber identity), e.g., based on acombination of a set of user preferences, radio conditions, availableservices, supported data rates, etc. As described further herein, apacket-switch data connection can switch between two differentsubscriptions automatically without requiring manual intervention by auser of the DSDx wireless communication device. In some embodiments, theuser can set preferences for radio access technologies, wirelessnetworks, and/or an order of which SIM/eSIM/subscription to use.

In some embodiments, the DSDx wireless communication device canautomatically switch which subscription/wireless cellular protocol SWstack is associated with (or preferred by or first attempted for use by)based on which wireless network/service can provide a higher datathroughput connection. For example, when one wireless cellular protocolsoftware stack is in an “idle” mode with a 4G LTE wireless network,while the other wireless cellular protocol software stack is in an“idle” mode with a legacy 2G or 3G wireless network, the DSDx wirelesscommunication device can automatically associate packet-switched dataconnections with the wireless cellular protocol software stack that is“camped on” the 4G LTE wireless network. Alternatively, or in addition,the DSDx wireless communication device can account for existing radioconditions, e.g., as provided by cell measurements, to associatepacket-switched data connections with a “higher quality” or “higher datarate” wireless cellular protocol SW stack. When a wireless cellularprotocol SW stack that carries a packet-switched data connection entersan “out of service” condition or when signal quality degrades, the DSDxwireless communication device can be configured to switch an existingpacket-switched data connection (or a packet-switched data association)to a “less preferred” radio access technology that offers a higherperformance connection, e.g., due to existing radio conditions. Forexample, the DSDx wireless communication device can be at a geographiclocation closer to a “less preferred” RAT cell that can still provide ahigher data rate or a higher quality connection that a “more preferred”RAT cell that can only offer a lower data rate or a lower qualityconnection (e.g., due to distance, noise, interference, congestion, orother access network radio conditions). When both wireless cellularprotocol software stacks are associated with the same radio accesstechnology, the DSDx wireless communication device can switch betweenwireless cellular protocol SW stacks for packet-switched dataconnections based on a signal strength or signal quality, e.g., areceived signal strength indication (RSSI), received signal code power(RSCP), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference-plus-noiseratio (SINR), or other appropriate performance metric. In someembodiments, a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection can bepreferred to a cellular connection, and a WLAN connection can be used,when available and accessible, by the DSDx wireless communication devicerather than a cellular connection. In some embodiments, a set of servicesubscriptions can influence whether a connection to a particularcellular wireless network or an alternative WLAN is used. The DSDxwireless communication device can be configured to enforce a minimumtime duration for keeping an association between packet-switched dataconnections and a stack/subscription in order to avoid frequentswitching of packet-switch data connection associations (and/orconnections) between wireless cellular protocol SW stacks. Thus, theDSDx wireless communication device can “filter” measurements and/orapply a “hysteresis” effect to bias associations and/or connectionstoward a present association/connection before switching, e.g., usingthresholds (fixed or adaptive) for switching the association/connectionto a different wireless cellular protocol SW stack.

In some embodiments, a “local” subscription or a subscription to a“home” wireless network can be preferred to a “remote” subscription or asubscription via a “roaming” wireless network for packet-switched dataconnections of the DSDx wireless communication device. The associationand/or preference for particular subscriptions can thus also be based ona geographic location of the DSDx wireless communication device, and auser can prefer to not manually reset associations while traveling. Insome embodiments, packet-switched data connections can be associatedwith a subscription with which a circuit-switched voice connection isestablished (or is in the process of being established) in order tosupport a simultaneous circuit-switched (CS) and packet-switched (PS)service via a wireless cellular protocol SW stack that supports such acombined CS/PS service. In some embodiments, costs associated withsubscription service plans can be used to determine (or at leastinfluence) a choice of wireless cellular protocol SW stack with which toassociate packet-switched data connections. In some embodiments, anunlimited data service subscription can be preferred to a metered dataservice subscription. In some embodiments, a user can set preferencesfor radio access technologies and/or subscriptions (i.e., which SIM/eSIMto use under which circumstances). In some embodiments, the user can setan order of radio access technologies to associated with packet-switcheddata connections. In some embodiments, a user can set permissions (e.g.,allowing or disallowing) associations of packet-switched dataconnections with particular subscriptions. In some embodiments,permissions can be “globally” set, e.g., to apply to any application orto any user application or to any foreground application or to anybackground application. In some embodiments, permissions can be“locally” set, e.g., to apply to one or more particular applications.Thus, a user can set which applications have permission to use whichsubscriptions, in some embodiments. For dual SIM wireless communicationdevices that support multiple, simultaneous wireless connections, e.g.,two cellular connections to two different wireless networks, or twocellular connections to the same wireless network, or a cellularconnection to a cellular wireless network concurrent with a WLANconnection to a WLAN network, the user can set preferences for automaticswitching of packet-switched data connections among multiplesubscriptions and/or among different possible wireless connections basedon a number of factors as listed above.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart 1500 for a method performed by awireless communication device 102, e.g., a DSDx wireless communicationdevice as described hereinabove, while the wireless communication device102 is associated with and/or connected to one or more wireless networksusing two subscriber identities. In step 1502, the wirelesscommunication device 102 performs cellular communication with a firstwireless network via a first wireless cellular protocol SW stack for afirst subscriber identity provided by a first SIM. (While the method isdescribed in terms of a “SIM”, the method can equally be applied to an“eSIM” and/or combinations of one or more SIMs and one or more eSIMs.)In step 1504, the wireless communication device 102 performs cellularcommunication with a second wireless network via a second wirelesscellular protocol SW stack for a second subscriber identity provided bya second SIM. In step 1605, the wireless communication device 102 sharesmobility management tasks between the first and second wireless cellularprotocol SW stacks when the first and second SIMs are associated withthe same wireless network as a serving carrier or as a roaming carrier.In some embodiments, the first and second wireless networks areidentically the same wireless network, and the first and second wirelesscellular protocol SW stacks are each associated with the same cell ofthe same wireless network. In some embodiments, when the first andsecond wireless cellular protocol SW stacks are each in an idle state orin a paging channel (PCH) state, the wireless communication device 102shares mobility management tasks by: (i) monitoring a paging channel viathe first wireless cellular protocol SW stack for paging messagesassociated with the first subscriber identity, (ii) monitoring thepaging channel via the second wireless cellular protocol SW stack forpaging messages associated with the second subscriber identity, (iii)measuring communication channel characteristics for a serving cell andfor one or more neighbor cells via the first wireless cellular protocolSW stack, and (iv) transferring information based on the communicationchannel characteristics from the first wireless cellular protocol SWstack to the second wireless cellular protocol SW stack. In someembodiments, the information transferred between the wireless cellularprotocol SW stacks includes settings for radio frequency (RF) wirelesscircuitry of the wireless communication device 102.

In some embodiments, when the first wireless cellular protocol SW stackis in a connected state with a serving cell and the second wirelesscellular protocol SW stack is in an idle state or in a paging channel(PCH) state associated with the serving cell, the wireless communicationdevice 102 shares mobility management tasks by: (i) performingmeasurements of the serving cell and of one or more neighbor cells forcell reselection or handover via the first wireless cellular protocol SWstack; (ii) determining a target cell for reselection or handover viathe first wireless cellular protocol SW stack; and (iii) performingreselection or handover from the serving cell to the target cell forboth the first and second wireless cellular protocol SW stacks. In someembodiments, the wireless communication device 102 reads messages on abroadcast channel (BCH) of a target cell via the second wirelesscellular protocol SW stack during at least a portion of time during areselection or handover process initiated by the first wireless cellularprotocol SW stack.

In some embodiments, when the first and second wireless cellularprotocol SW stacks are each in a connected state with a serving cell,the wireless communication device 102 shares mobility management tasksby: (i) communicating signaling and data with the serving cell via thefirst wireless cellular protocol SW stack; (ii) communicating signalingand data with the serving cell via the second wireless cellular protocolSW stack; (iii) performing measurement of the serving cell and of one ormore neighbor cells for cell handover via the first wireless cellularprotocol SW stack; (iv) determining a target cell for handover via thefirst wireless cellular protocol SW stack; and (v) performing handoverfrom the serving cell to the target cell for both the first and secondwireless cellular protocol SW stacks. In some embodiments, the wirelesscommunication device 102 measures communication channel characteristicsfor a serving cell and for one or more neighbor cells via the firstwireless cellular protocol SW stack and transfers information based onthe communication channel characteristics from the first wirelesscellular protocol SW stack to the second wireless cellular protocol SWstack. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 102measures communication channel characteristics for the serving cell andfor the one or more neighbor cells via the second wireless cellularprotocol SW stack and provides measurements to the serving cell via thesecond wireless cellular protocol SW stack during a time period betweenwhen handover of the first wireless cellular protocol SW stack from theserving cell to the target cell completes and handover of the secondwireless cellular SW stack from the serving cell to the target cellcompletes.

The method illustrated in FIG. 15 and variations thereof can beperformed on a single baseband processor of the wireless communicationdevice 102 on which both the first and second cellular protocol SWstacks run. Alternatively, the method illustrated in FIG. 15 andvariations thereof can be performed on multiple (e.g., two) basebandprocessors of the wireless communication device 102 on which the firstand second cellular protocol SW stacks can respectively run. In someembodiments, the first cellular protocol SW stack supports communicationusing multiple RATs, while the second cellular protocol SW stacksupports communication using a single RAT.

FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart 1600 for another method performed by awireless communication device 102, e.g., a DSDx wireless communicationdevice as described hereinabove, while the wireless communication device102 is associated with one or more wireless networks using multiplesubscriber identities. In step 1602, the wireless communication device102 divides a set of mobility management tasks between a first wirelesscellular protocol SW stack for a first subscriber identity provided by afirst SIM and a second wireless cellular protocol SW stack for a secondsubscriber identity provided by a second SIM. In some embodiments, thefirst and second wireless cellular protocol SW stacks operate on acommon processor, e.g., a single baseband processor of the wirelesscommunication device 102, with a software interface interconnecting thewireless cellular protocol SW stacks. In some embodiments, the first andsecond wireless cellular protocol SW stacks operate on multiple (e.g.,two) processors of the wireless communication device 102 interconnectedby a hardware interface over which a software interface between thestacks is realized. In some embodiments, each wireless cellular protocolSW stack supports communication in accordance with multiple RATs. Insome embodiments, each wireless cellular protocol SW stack is configuredto support communication using a set of RATs, which are at leastpartially non-overlapping (e.g., at least one RAT in each set of RATs isuniquely associated with a corresponding wireless cellular protocol SWstack). In step 1604, the wireless communication device executes the setof mobility management tasks using the first and second wirelesscellular protocol SW stacks operating in parallel when both wirelesscellular protocol SW stacks are associated with but not connected to arespective wireless network. For example, the first wireless cellularprotocol SW stack is associated with (or registered with, or in anon-connected RRC state) with a first wireless network, while the secondwireless cellular protocol SW stack is associated with (or registeredwith, or in a non-connected RRC state) with a second wireless network.Each wireless cellular protocol SW stack executes its own subset ofmobility management tasks from the set of mobility management tasks. Instep 1606, the wireless cellular protocol SW stacks share informationobtained by execution of the mobility management tasks between them.

In some embodiments, the set of mobility management tasks executed inparallel by the wireless cellular protocol SW stacks include searchingfor a PLMN. In some embodiments, the first wireless cellular protocol SWstack searches for PLMNs that use a RAT in a first set of RATs, whilethe second wireless cellular protocol SW stack searches for PLMNs thatuse a RAT in a second set of RATs, where the sets of RATs are at leastin part non-overlapping. In some embodiments, one wireless cellularprotocol SW stack searches for 2G PLMNs, while the other wirelesscellular protocol SW stack searches for 3G PLMNs. In some embodiments,one wireless cellular protocol SW stack searches for legacy 2G or 3GPLMNs, while the other wireless cellular protocol SW stack searches for4G LTE/LTE-A PLMNs. In some embodiments, one wireless cellular protocolSW stack searches for 4G FDD PLMNs, while the other wireless cellularprotocol SW stack searches for 4G TDD PLMNs. In some embodiments, eachwireless cellular protocol SW stack searches for PLMNs based on apreferred RAT list associated with the wireless cellular protocol SWstack's associated subscriber identity or SIM/eSIM.

In some embodiments, the set of mobility management tasks executed inparallel by the wireless cellular protocol SW stacks include measuringneighbor cells and/or serving cells. In some embodiments, the wirelesscellular protocol SW stacks measure cells based on one or more criteriaincluding but not limited to radio access technologies, radio frequencybands, RRC states, RAT preference lists, and cell preference lists. Insome embodiments, each wireless cellular protocol SW stack measures itsown serving cell and one or more neighbor cells for a radio accesstechnology shared by its own serving cell. In some embodiments, bothwireless cellular protocol SW stacks are associated with subscriberidentities for SIMs/eSIMs associated with the same wireless networkprovider, which serves as either a serving carrier or a roaming carrier.When both the first and second wireless cellular protocol SW stacks areassociated with the same wireless network provider, the informationshared between the wireless cellular protocol SW stacks includes acombination of one or more of neighbor cell lists, forbidden cell lists,and broadcast system information. In some embodiments, the first andsecond wireless cellular protocol SW stacks are associated with the samecell of the same wireless network, and the information shared betweenthe wireless cellular protocol SW stacks includes physical layerinformation or wireless circuitry settings for communication with thecell. In some embodiments, the information shared between the wirelesscellular protocol SW stacks includes target cell information for a cellreselection process or for a cell handover process, such assynchronization parameters, radio frequency values, or wirelesscircuitry settings for communication with a target cell. In someembodiments, the information shared between the wireless cellularprotocol SW stacks includes cell measurements and/or wireless circuitrysettings for a CSFB procedure or for a SRVCC procedure.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart 1700 for a method to share radiofrequency wireless circuitry by two wireless cellular protocol softwarestacks in a wireless communication device to communicate with twowireless networks. The method is performed by the wireless communicationdevice while connected to a first wireless network through a firstwireless cellular protocol SW stack for a first subscriber identityassociated with a first SIM, as determined in step 1702. In step 1704,the wireless communication device receives a paging request for a secondsubscriber identity associated with a second SIM from a second wirelessnetwork. In step 1706, the wireless communication device reconfigures aportion of radio frequency wireless circuitry from the first wirelessnetwork to communicate with the second wireless network through a secondwireless cellular protocol SW stack. In step 1708, the wirelesscommunication device establishes a signaling channel with the secondwireless network via the second wireless cellular protocol SW stackusing the reconfigured portion of radio frequency wireless circuitry. Instep 1710, the wireless communication device sends a paging response tothe second wireless network through the signaling channel in response tothe paging request received from the second wireless network. In step1712, the wireless communication device receives information from thesecond wireless network associated with the paging request through thesignaling channel. In step 1714, the wireless communication devicereleases the signaling channel with the second wireless network afterreceiving the information associated with the paging request. In step1716, the wireless communication device reconfigures the portion of thewireless circuitry from the second wireless network back to the firstwireless network to continue communication with the first wirelessnetwork via the first wireless cellular protocol SW stack afterreleasing the signaling channel.

In some embodiments, the portion of the wireless circuitry that isreconfigured in the wireless communication device to switchcommunication between the first wireless network and the second wirelessnetwork includes a radio frequency transmitter that is shared betweenthe first and second wireless cellular protocol SW stacks. The first andwireless cellular protocol SW stacks can run simultaneously on a singlebaseband processor or on multiple baseband processors with communicationinterfaces between the wireless cellular protocol SW stacks as describedand illustrated herein. The paging request received from the secondwireless network can include a mobile terminated connectionestablishment request for the second subscriber identity module, andafter establishing the signaling channel, the wireless communicationdevice can receive a connection setup message for the mobile terminatedconnection request from the second wireless network. The mobile wirelesscommunication device can receive information associated with the pagingrequest as part of the connection setup message, e.g., an indication ofan originator of the mobile terminated connection establishment request.The mobile wireless communication device can send a connection rejectionmessage to the second wireless network denying the request to establisha mobile terminated connection with the second wireless network. Theconnection rejection message can include an indication of the status ofthe wireless communication device, subscriber identity, or user thereof,e.g., a “busy” indication. The mobile wireless communication device canprovide a user of the mobile wireless device with a notification thatincludes an indication of the originator of the mobile terminatedconnection establishment request. Thus, the user of the mobile wirelesscommunication device can be informed of a connection attempt from asecond wireless network, and in some embodiments an indication of theoriginator of the connection attempt, while still engaged in aconnection with the first wireless network.

In some embodiments, the paging request includes a short message service(SMS) request, and the wireless communication device subsequentlyreceives an SMS control protocol data (CP-DATA) message from the secondwireless network after establishing the signaling channel with thesecond wireless network. In response to the SMS CP-DATA message, thewireless communication device can send an acknowledgement, e.g., aCP-DATA ACK message. The wireless communication device can provide anindication of the received SMS CP-DATA message to a user thereof. Inthis manner, the user can receive SMS messages from a second wirelessnetwork, while remaining in a connection with the first wirelessnetwork. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device performsan authentication procedure via the signaling channel with the secondwireless network, e.g., receiving an authentication request from andsending an authentication response back to the second wireless network.In some embodiments, the wireless communication device also performs asecurity mode process that includes receiving a security mode commandfrom the second wireless network and responding with a security modecomplete message sent back to the second wireless network. The wirelesscommunication device can reconfigure a portion of the wirelesscircuitry, e.g., a radio frequency transmitter, back and forth betweenthe first wireless network and the second wireless network, therebymaintaining the connection with the first wireless network, while alsoproviding a “limited” connection with the second wireless network. Thewireless communication device can support continuation of the connectionto the first wireless network, while also supporting communication via asignaling channel with the second wireless network. The wirelesscommunication device can thus receive information about “missed”incoming connection attempts and/or receive SMS messages from a secondwireless network without losing the connection to the first wirelessnetwork. By sharing a single radio frequency transmitter among multiplewireless cellular protocol SW stacks that each have their own radiofrequency receivers, a more compact and power efficient wirelesscommunication device can be realized that permits at least limitedparallel communication with two different wireless networks (or with thesame wireless network) for two different subscriber identitiesassociated with two distinct SIMs/eSIMs. The SIMs can be installed onone or more removable UICCs and/or the eSIMs can be installed on aneUICC, as disclosed herein for various embodiments of the wirelesscommunication device.

FIG. 18 illustrates a flowchart 1800 for a representative method tomanage data connections in a wireless communication device that includesmultiple subscriber identity modules (SIMs). In some embodiments, one ormore of the SIMs are located on one or more removable UICCs installed inthe wireless communication device. In some embodiments, one or more ofthe SIMs are installed as electronic SIMs (eSIMs) on an embedded UICC(eUICC) included in the wireless communication device. The wirelesscommunication device can be configured to access one or more differentwireless networks associated with the multiple SIMs/eSIMs included inthe wireless communication device. At least one of the SIMs can providefor a data connection, and in some embodiments, multiple SIMs/eSIMs caneach provide for data connections to one or more wireless networks. Theone or more wireless networks can be distinct, e.g., different wirelessnetworks that provide different services and/or use different radioaccess technologies, or the same wireless network, e.g., when two (ormore) SIMs/eSIMs are associated with the same wireless service provideror when one SIM/eSIM provides a “home” service through a wirelessnetwork and a second SIM/eSIM provides a “roaming” service through thesame wireless network. With multiple SIMs/eSIMs that can each provide adata connection for the wireless communication device, a prioritizedorder of which SIMs/eSIMs to use can be established, e.g., as a defaultsetting in a software configuration of the wireless communication deviceand/or as a user configurable preference setting. In a first step 1802,when an application (or other resource) in the wireless communicationdevice seeks to establish a data connection, the wireless communicationdevice can detect the application's (or other resource's) request toestablish the data connection. In a second step 1804, the wirelesscommunication device obtains a preference for prioritization of dataconnections for the multiple SIMs in the wireless communication device.In a third step, 1806, based on the preference for prioritization, thewireless communication device can establish the data connection with awireless network associated with one of the multiple SIMs/eSIMs in thewireless communication device.

In some embodiments, the preference for prioritization of the dataconnections includes a prioritized order (e.g., an ordered list) inwhich the multiple SIMs/eSIMs can be selected by the wirelesscommunication device to attempt to establish the data connection. Thewireless communication device can attempt to connect with one or morewireless networks associated with each SIM/eSIM in the prioritized orderuntil the data connection is established. In some embodiments, all ofthe SIMs/eSIMs can support a data connection; while in some embodiments,only some (i.e., not all) of the SIMs/eSIMs can support a dataconnection. When only some of the SIMs/eSIMs support a data connection,the prioritized order/list can include only those SIMs/eSIMs thatsupport data connections and can exclude SIMs/eSIMs that do not supporta data connection. In some embodiments, the user can select an order inwhich SIMs/eSIMs can be selected for a data connection. In someembodiments, the user can include and/or exclude particular SIMs/eSIMsfrom the prioritized order, and for those SIMs/eSIMs included, the usercan specify an order by which the SIMs/eSIMs can be used forestablishing a data connection. In some embodiments, the preference forprioritization of the data connections includes a prioritized order ofradio access technologies (RATs) to use for data connections. When RATsare prioritized, the wireless communication device can establish thedata connection with the wireless network by attempting to connect withone or more wireless networks associated with the multiple SIMs/eSIMs inthe prioritized order of RATs until the data connection is established.In some embodiments, one or more of the multiple SIMs/eSIMs each providefor multiple RATs, and a first set of SIMs/eSIMs can be used to attemptto establish the data connection with an associated wireless network byselecting a first preferred RAT. When the wireless communication devicecannot establish the data connection using any of the SIMs/eSIMs (orassociated wireless networks) that use the first preferred RAT, then asecond set of SIMs/eSIMs that use a second preferred RAT in theprioritized order of RATs can be used. The process can repeat until allRATs are attempted in order to establish the data connection. In arepresentative embodiment, the wireless communication device includes afirst SIM/eSIM configured for a 4G LTE wireless network and a secondSIM/eSIM configured for a legacy 2G/3G wireless network, and theprioritized order of RATs indicates a preference for a 4G LTE RAT beforea legacy 2G/3G RAT. In a representative embodiment, the wirelesscommunication device prioritizes establishing the data connection with a4G LTE wireless network before establishing the data connection with alegacy 2G/3G wireless network.

In some embodiments, when the multiple SIMs/eSIMs in the wirelesscommunication device support connections to at least two wirelessnetworks that each use a particular RAT, the wireless communicationdevice can prioritize each of the at least two wireless networks basedon another criteria, such as a characteristic of connections for the atleast two wireless networks. In some embodiments, the wirelesscommunication device compares one or more quality metrics for the atleast two wireless networks and prioritizes an order in which to attempta connection for the particular RAT based on the one or more qualitymetrics. The wireless communication device can prioritize connections towireless networks based on a signal quality and/or strength metric, suchas a received signal code power (RSCP), a reference signal receivedpower (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI), and/or another comparable qualitymetric. The wireless communication device can be configured to establisha data connection with a first wireless network having a higher signalstrength/quality when available over establishing a data connection witha second wireless network having a lower signal strength/quality, whenboth the first and second wireless networks use the same RAT.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device includes apreference for higher data rates over lower data rates when establishinga data connection, and the wireless communication device attempts toconnect with one or more wireless networks associated with the multipleSIMs/eSIMs in a prioritized order based on a highest data rate providedby a radio access technology of each wireless network. Wireless networksthat use RATs that offer higher maximum data rates can be preferred overwireless networks that use RATs that offer lower maximum data rates. Insome embodiments, a range of data rates available for each RAT and/oreach wireless network can be used to determine an order in whichwireless networks are attempted for a data connection.

In some embodiments, a wireless network that uses a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) technology, e.g., Wi-Fi, can be preferred over wirelessnetworks that use a cellular wireless technology, e.g., an LTE, UMTS,GPRS, or CDMA EV-DO wireless network, for establishing a dataconnection. The wireless communication device can include wirelesscircuitry that supports data connections using a WLAN technology andwireless circuitry that supports data connections using a cellularwireless technology. The wireless communication device can detectavailability of a WLAN and can attempt to establish a data connectionwith the WLAN before attempting to establish a data connection with acellular wireless network. In some embodiments, the wirelesscommunication device can detect availability of a WLAN afterestablishing a data connection with a cellular wireless network and canswitch the data connection from the cellular wireless network to theWLAN.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device detects anattempt to establish a circuit-switched voice connection to a cellularwireless network. The wireless communication device can prioritizeestablishing a data connection (or switching an existing dataconnection) to the cellular wireless network when the cellular wirelessnetwork supports simultaneous circuit-switched voice connections andpacket-switched data connections. In some embodiments, afterestablishing a data connection with a wireless network, the wirelesscommunication device can detect a degradation of a signal quality forthe established data connection and can switch the data connection toanother wireless network in response. In some embodiments, detecting thedegradation of the signal quality can include detecting anout-of-service (OOS) condition for the data connection with the wirelessnetwork. In some embodiments, detecting the degradation of the signalquality can include comparing the signal quality of the data connectionwith a signal quality threshold.

FIG. 19 illustrates a representative method 1900 to support parallelcommunication using multiple subscriber identities at a wirelesscommunication device that includes multiple SIMs/eSIMs. The methodincludes the wireless communication device establishing a connectionwith a first wireless network by means of a first wireless cellularprotocol software stack for a first subscriber identity associated witha first SIM/eSIM. The connection can be one or more of: a signalingconnection, a circuit-switched connection, and a packet-switchedconnection. The method further includes the wireless communicationdevice registering with a second wireless network by means of a secondwireless cellular protocol software stack for a second subscriberidentity associated with a second SIM/eSIM. In some embodiments, thefirst and second wireless networks are distinct, different wirelessnetworks associated with different mobile network operators (MNOs). Insome embodiments, the first and second wireless networks are the samewireless network. The method further includes the wireless communicationdevice receiving radio frequency signals from the second wirelessnetwork by means of the second wireless cellular protocol software stackwhile also communicating in parallel with the first wireless network bymeans of the first wireless cellular protocol software stack. In someembodiments, the wireless communication device includes radio frequencycircuitry, at least a portion of which is shared by the first and secondwireless cellular protocol software stacks for communicating with thefirst and second wireless networks respectively. In some embodiments,the wireless communication device includes a first radio frequencytransmitter that can be configured for use by the first or secondwireless cellular protocol software stacks to communicate with the firstor second wireless networks. In some embodiments, the wirelesscommunication device includes a first radio frequency receiverconfigured for use by the first wireless cellular protocol softwarestack to communicate with the first wireless network and a second radiofrequency receiver configured for use by the second wireless cellularprotocol software stack to communicate with the second wireless networkrespectively.

The method illustrated in FIG. 19 can be performed by one or moredifferent wireless communication devices, such as one or more variantsof the dual SIM wireless communication device 502 illustrated in FIG.5A, the multi-SIM wireless communication device 522 illustrated in FIG.5B, the multi-eSIM wireless communication device 532 illustrated in FIG.5B, the multi-SIM/e-SIM wireless communication devices 542/552illustrated in FIG. 5B, the multi-eSIM wireless communication device 602illustrated in FIG. 6, the dual SIM, dual Active (DSDA) wirelesscommunication device 700 illustrated in FIG. 7A, the dual SIM, dualStandby (DSDS) wireless communication devices 712/714 illustrated inFIG. 7B, the multi-SIM, dual Access/Standby (DSDx) wirelesscommunication device 722 illustrated in FIG. 7C, the multi-SIM/eSIM,dual Access/Standby (DSDx) wireless communication device 732 illustratedin FIG. 7C, and/or the dual SIM, dual Standby/Access (DSDx) wirelesscommunication devices 802/810 illustrated in FIG. 8. In someembodiments, a wireless communication device to perform a methodillustrated in FIG. 19 includes radio frequency wireless circuitryincluding at least one antenna and at least one radio frequencycomponent block coupled thereto, and at least one baseband processorconfigured to transmit and receive radio frequency signals via the radiofrequency wireless circuitry and configured to perform one or more ofthe steps of the method. In some embodiments, the wireless communicationdevice includes at least two wireless cellular protocol software stacksthat share at least a portion of the radio frequency wireless circuitryfor communicating with one or more wireless networks in parallel. Insome embodiments, the shared portion of radio frequency wirelesscircuitry includes a transmitter that can be configured to communicatewith one or more wireless networks. In some embodiments, each wirelesscellular protocol software stack in the wireless communication device iscoupled to its own radio frequency wireless receiver to allow forparallel reception of radio frequency signals for at least two distinctsubscriber identities in parallel.

In some embodiments, a wireless communication device can receive signalsfor a second subscriber identity while also transmitting and/orreceiving signals for a first subscriber identity. Thus, the wirelesscommunication device can receive signaling messages, such as pagingmessages, paging indications, or broadcast channel messages for onesubscriber identity, while also maintaining a connection for anothersubscriber identity. The wireless communication device can be configuredto perform a measurement procedure (e.g., based on received referencesignals) or to perform a downlink synchronization procedure for onewireless network while also communicating with another wireless network.In some embodiments, the wireless communication device is configurableto communicate simultaneously with two wireless networks that operate inaccordance with different radio access technologies (RATs), use one ormore different radio frequency bands, and/or use one or more differentradio frequency channels. In some embodiments, the first and secondwireless cellular protocol software stacks reside in the same processor,e.g., a single baseband processor, and are interconnected by a softwareinterface over which information can be exchanged between the wirelesscellular protocol software stacks, e.g., to coordinate operation of thewireless cellular protocol software stacks and/or to provide informationused to promote synergistic operation of the wireless cellular protocolsoftware stacks in parallel. In some embodiments, the wireless cellularprotocol software stacks reside on separate processors, e.g., two ormore different baseband processors, that are interconnected by ahardware interface (over which a software interface can interconnect thewireless cellular protocol software stacks). The subscriber identitiesare associated with respective subscriber identity modules (SIMs), whichcan be installed on removable universal integrated circuit cards(UICCs), can be embodied as electronic SIMs (eSIMs) on an embedded UICC(eUICC), or can be realized as a combination of SIMs on UICCs and eSIMson eUICCs.

In some embodiments, SIMs for a wireless communication device can resideinternally in the wireless communication device, e.g., on one or moreUICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICC in the wireless communication device,and/or reside externally in a wireless accessory device, e.g., as shownby the UICC accessory unit 724 in FIG. 7C or in a comparable UICC/eUICCwireless accessory device. The wireless accessory device can be coupledto the wireless communication device, e.g., through a wired or wirelessinterface, such as the interface 726 illustrated in FIG. 7C between thewireless communication devices 722/732 and the wireless accessory unit724. A second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device can provide forextending the capability of the wireless communication device to connectto a wireless network for which a first SIM/eSIM in the wirelesscommunication device is not authorized to provide a connection. As shownin FIG. 7C, a wireless cellular protocol software stack in the wirelesscommunication device can communicate with the wireless accessory device,e.g., to access the second SIM/eSIM over the wired/wireless interface toexchange information and/or obtain credentials by which the wirelesscommunication device can register with and/or connect to a wirelessnetwork using the information/credentials from the second SIM/SIM viathe wireless cellular protocol software stack. In a representativeembodiment, the interface between the wireless communication device andthe wireless accessory device uses a low power wireless protocol, e.g.,a Bluetooth® Low Energy wireless communication protocol. The wirelessaccessory device can provide for accessing the second SIM/eSIM when thewireless communication device is not designed to include multiple SIMson multiple UICCs, e.g., includes a bay for only a single removable UICCor uses internal eSIMs on an eUICC without support for another SIM onanother removable UICC. The wireless accessory device, in general,permits access to SIMs/eSIMs for connections to wireless networksthrough the wireless communication device, where the activated SIM/eSIMis not resident in the wireless communication device. The secondSIM/eSIM resident in the wireless accessory device can support all thesame functions as a first SIM/eSIM resident in the wirelesscommunication device, in some embodiments. Multiple external SIMs/eSIMscan be resident in the wireless accessory device. The first “internal”SIM/eSIM resident in the wireless communication device can operateindependently of the second “external” SIM/eSIM resident in the wirelessaccessory device. In some embodiments, the wireless communication devicecan use the second “external” SIM/eSIM in a “single SIM/eSIM” legacymode of operation, e.g., when the second “external” SIM/eSIM is enabledand/or activated and the first “internal” SIM/eSIM is not enabled and/ornot activated.

A wireless accessory device can be configured to support one or moreSIMs/eSIMs resident within the wireless accessory device for use by aseparate wireless communication device. The wireless accessory deviceand wireless communication device can be interconnected through aninterface, such as a wireless or wired interface, over which informationcan be provided from the wireless accessory device to the wirelesscommunication device. Representative information can include credentialsused to authenticate the wireless communication device with a wirelessnetwork using a subscriber identity associated with a SIM/eSIM in thewireless accessory device. In some embodiments, the wirelesscommunication device includes a wireless cellular protocol softwarestack that communicates with the SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessorydevice, where the SIM/eSIM is activated for communication with thewireless network. In some embodiments, the wireless communication deviceincludes another SIM/eSIM that is not activated for communication withthe wireless network and/or is activated for communication with thewireless network using a different subscriber identity than thesubscriber identity associated with the SIM/eSIM in the wirelessaccessory device. In some embodiments, the SIM/eSIM in the wirelessaccessory device is a SIM installed on a removable UICC. In someembodiments, the SIM/eSIM is an eSIM installed on an eUICC permanentlyaffixed to a circuit board in the wireless accessory device. In someembodiments, the interface between the wireless communication device andthe wireless accessory device is a wireless interface configurable tooperate in accordance with a wireless communication protocol for awireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network(WPAN), a radio frequency identification (RFID) connection, or using anear field communication (NFC). In some embodiments, the wirelessinterface is configured to operate using a Bluetooth® Low Energy (BTLE)wireless communication protocol. In some embodiments, the interface is awired interface configurable to operate in accordance with a protocolfor a universal serial bus, a Lightning™ port, or an Ethernet port.

The wireless communication device can be configured to support multiplesubscriber identities when coupled to the wireless accessory device, insome embodiments. The wireless communication device can include radiofrequency wireless circuitry, e.g., one or more antennas, and one ormore radio frequency component blocks, for communication with one ormore wireless networks, including cellular wireless networks. Thewireless communication device can include one or more basebandprocessors configured to transmit and receive radio frequency signalsvia the radio frequency wireless circuitry. The one or more basebandprocessors can be configured to establish a connection with a firstwireless network via a first wireless cellular protocol software stackfor a first subscriber identity associated with a first SIM/eSIM in thewireless accessory device. The one or more baseband processors canestablish the connection with the first wireless network by obtainingcredentials for the first subscriber identity from the first SIM/eSIM inthe wireless accessory device by means of the interface andauthenticating the wireless communication device with the first wirelessnetwork using the credentials. The wireless communication device, insome embodiments, can also register with a second wireless network bymeans of a second wireless cellular protocol software stack for a secondsubscriber identity associated with a second SIM/eSIM. The wirelesscommunication device, so configured, can receive radio frequency signalsfrom the second wireless network, by means of the second wirelesscellular protocol software stack, and can in parallel communicate withthe first wireless network by means of the first wireless cellularprotocol software stack. Thus, the wireless communication device canestablish a connection to one wireless network using a first SIM/eSIM(in the wireless communication device or in the wireless accessorydevice) while also registering with and receiving signals from anotherwireless network using a second SIM/eSIM (in the wireless communicationdevice or in the wireless accessory device) in parallel. The first andsecond SIMs/eSIMs can be SIMs installed on removable UICCs and/or can beeSIMs installed on eUICCs. In some embodiments, the combination of thewireless communication device and the wireless accessory device can forma wireless system capable of functioning as a dual SIM, dual standby ordual SIM, dual active wireless communication device. In someembodiments, the wireless communication device can connect to twodifferent wireless networks using two different SIMs/eSIMs that are notcollocated in the wireless communication device, e.g., at least oneSIM/eSIM resides in the wireless accessory device. In some embodiments,the wireless communication device can connect to a wireless networkusing a SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device when no activatedSIM/eSIM resides in the wireless communication device. In someembodiments, the wireless communication device includes a singlebaseband processor on which the first and second wireless cellularprotocol software stacks run in parallel with a software interfacebetween them. In some embodiments, cooperation and/or synergy betweenthe first and second wireless cellular protocol software stacks isenabled by means of the software interface between them, e.g., throughan exchange of information over the software interface and/or by controlthrough additional software in the baseband processor. In someembodiments, the wireless communication device includes a first basebandprocessor to manage the first wireless cellular protocol software stackand a second baseband processor to manage the second wireless cellularprotocol software stack, with the first and second baseband processorsinterconnected by a hardware interface. In some embodiments, a softwareinterface can be realized between the first and second wireless cellularprotocol software stacks through the hardware interface, and informationcan be exchanged to provide for cooperation and/or synergistic operationbetween the first and second wireless cellular protocol software stacks.

The various aspects, embodiments, implementations or features of thedescribed embodiments can be used separately or in any combination.Further, some aspects of the described embodiments may be implemented bysoftware, hardware, or by a combination of hardware and software. Thedescribed embodiments can also be embodied as computer program codestored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computerreadable-medium may be associated with any data storage device that canstore data, which can thereafter be read by a computer or a computersystem. Examples of the computer-readable medium include read-onlymemory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, Solid-State Disks (SSD or Flash),HDDs, DVDs, magnetic tape, and optical data storage devices. Thecomputer-readable medium can also be distributed over network-coupledcomputer systems so that the computer program code may be executed in adistributed fashion.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the describedembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatsome of the specific details are not required in order to practice thedescribed embodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specificembodiments are presented herein for purposes of illustration anddescription. These descriptions are not intended to be exhaustive,all-inclusive, or to limit the described embodiments to the preciseforms or details disclosed. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art that many modifications and variations are possible in viewof the above teachings, without departing from the spirit and the scopeof the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method to manage data connections, the methodcomprising: by a wireless communication device including multiplesubscriber identity modules (SIMs): detecting an application requestfrom a first application to establish a data connection for the firstapplication; obtaining a preference for prioritization of dataconnections among the multiple SIMs for the first application; based onthe preference for prioritization, establishing the data connection forthe first application with a wireless network associated with one of themultiple SIMs; monitoring radio frequency conditions of the dataconnection to the wireless network and of alternative wireless networksto determine whether to switch the data connection for the firstapplication to one of the alternative wireless networks; and switchingthe data connection for the first application to the one of thealternative wireless networks based on the monitored radio frequencyconditions, wherein: the preference for prioritization comprises a userset permission for the first application indicating which of themultiple SIMs the first application is permitted to use, and themonitoring includes filtering measurements of the radio frequencyconditions to cause the data connection for the first application toremain with a present connection for at least a threshold time durationbefore switching.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein thepreference for prioritization further comprises a prioritized order ofthe multiple SIMs for data connections, and wherein the wirelesscommunication device establishes the data connection with the wirelessnetwork by: attempting to connect with one or more wireless networksassociated with each SIM of the multiple SIMs with which the firstapplication is permitted to use in the prioritized order until the dataconnection for the first application is established.
 3. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the preference for prioritization furthercomprises a prioritized order of radio access technologies (RATs) fordata connections, and wherein the wireless communication deviceestablishes the data connection with the wireless network by: attemptingto connect with one or more wireless networks associated with each SIMof the multiple SIMs with which the first application is permitted touse in the prioritized order of RATs until the data connection for thefirst application is established.
 4. The method as recited in claim 3,further comprising: by the wireless communication device: when at leasttwo wireless networks use a particular RAT, comparing a quality metricfor each of the at least two wireless networks that use the particularRAT; and prioritizing establishing connections to the at least twowireless networks that use the particular RAT based on the comparing ofthe quality metric for each of the at least two wireless networks thatuse the particular RAT, wherein the quality metric comprises one or moreof: a received signal code power (RSCP), a reference signal receivedpower (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI).
 5. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein the preference for prioritization further comprises a preferencefor higher data rate connections, and wherein the wireless communicationdevice establishes the data connection with the wireless network by:attempting to connect with one or more wireless networks associated witheach SIM of the multiple SIMs with which the first application ispermitted to use in a prioritized order based on a highest data rateprovided by a radio access technology of each wireless network until thedata connection for the first application is established.
 6. The methodas recited in claim 1, further comprising: by the wireless communicationdevice: detecting availability of a wireless local area network (WLAN)before establishing the data connection for the first application withthe wireless network associated with one of the multiple SIMs; andattempting to establish the data connection for the first applicationwith the WLAN before attempting to establish the data connection for thefirst application with the wireless network associated with one of themultiple SIMs.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:by the wireless communication device: detecting availability of awireless local area network (WLAN) after establishing the dataconnection for the first application with the wireless network, whereinthe wireless network is a cellular wireless network and the one of thealternative wireless networks is the WLAN; and the switching the dataconnection for the first application to the one of the alternativewireless networks comprises switching the data connection for the firstapplication from the cellular wireless network to the WLAN.
 8. Themethod as recited in claim 1, further comprising: by the wirelesscommunication device: detecting an attempt to establish acircuit-switched voice connection to a cellular wireless network thatsupports simultaneous circuit-switched voice connections and packetswitched data connections, wherein the one of the alternative wirelessnetworks is the cellular wireless network; and the switching the dataconnection for the first application to the one of the alternativewireless networks comprises switching the data connection for the firstapplication from the wireless network to the cellular wireless network.9. A wireless communication device configured to support multiplesubscriber identities, the wireless communication device comprising:radio frequency wireless circuitry including at least one antenna and atleast one radio frequency component block coupled thereto; and at leastone baseband processor configured to transmit and receive radiofrequency signals via the radio frequency wireless circuitry; whereinthe at least one baseband processor is further configured to cause thewireless communication device to, while associated with a first wirelessnetwork via a first wireless cellular protocol software stack for afirst subscriber identity associated with a first subscriber identitymodule (SIM) and associated with a second wireless network via a secondwireless cellular protocol software stack for a second subscriberidentity associated with a second SIM: detect an application requestfrom a first application to establish a data connection for the firstapplication; based on a prioritization of data connections for thewireless communication device, establish the data connection for thefirst application with the first wireless network or with the secondwireless network; monitor radio frequency conditions of the dataconnection for the first application with the first or second wirelessnetwork and radio frequency conditions of alternative wireless networksto determine whether to switch the data connection for the firstapplication to one of the alternative wireless networks; and switch thedata connection for the first application to the one of the alternativewireless networks based on the monitored radio frequency conditions,wherein: the prioritization comprises a user set permission for thefirst application indicating which of the first SIM and the second SIMthe first application is permitted to use, and the wirelesscommunication device monitors by at least filtering measurements of theradio frequency conditions to cause the data connection for the firstapplication to remain with a present connection for at least a thresholdtime duration before switching.
 10. The wireless communication device asrecited in claim 9, wherein the prioritization further comprises a userpreference for use of radio access technologies (RATs) for dataconnections, and wherein the wireless communication device establishesthe data connection for the first application based on RATs used by thefirst and second wireless networks.
 11. The wireless communicationdevice as recited in claim 9, wherein the prioritization of dataconnections for the wireless communication device further comprises adefault preference for wireless networks that use a later generationradio access technology (RAT) over wireless networks that use an earliergeneration RAT.
 12. The wireless communication device as recited inclaim 9, wherein the at least one baseband processor is furtherconfigured to cause the wireless communication device to: detectavailability of a wireless local area network (WLAN) before establishingthe data connection for the first application with the first or secondwireless network; and attempt to establish the data connection with theWLAN before attempting to establish the data connection for the firstapplication with the first or second wireless network.
 13. The wirelesscommunication device as recited in claim 9, wherein the at least onebaseband processor is further configured to cause the wirelesscommunication device to: detect availability of a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) after establishing the data connection for the firstapplication with the first or second wireless network, wherein the oneof the alternative wireless networks is the WLAN.
 14. The wirelesscommunication device as recited in claim 9, wherein the at least onebaseband processor is further configured to cause the wirelesscommunication device to: detect an attempt to establish acircuit-switched voice connection to a cellular wireless network thatsupports simultaneous circuit-switched voice connections andpacket-switched data connections, wherein the one of the alternativewireless networks is the cellular wireless network.
 15. A non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium having computer program code storedthereon, the computer program code, when executed by one or moreprocessors implemented on a wireless communication device, causes thewireless communication device to: associate the wireless communicationdevice with a first wireless network via a first wireless cellularprotocol software stack for a first subscriber identity associated witha first subscriber identity module (SIM); associate the wirelesscommunication device with a second wireless network via a secondwireless cellular protocol software stack for a second subscriberidentity associated with a second SIM; detect a request to establish adata connection for a first application; establish the data connectionfor the first application with the first wireless network or the secondwireless network based on one or more characteristics of the first andsecond wireless networks and a prioritization of data connections forthe wireless communication device; monitor radio frequency conditions ofthe data connection for the first application with the first or secondwireless network and radio frequency conditions of alternative wirelessnetworks to determine whether to switch the data connection for thefirst application to one of the alternative wireless networks; andswitch the data connection for the first application to the one of thealternative wireless networks based on the monitored radio frequencyconditions, wherein: the prioritization comprises a user set permissionfor the first application indicating which of the first SIM and thesecond SIM the first application is permitted to use, and the wirelesscommunication device monitors by at least filtering measurements of theradio frequency conditions to cause the data connection for the firstapplication to remain with a present connection for at least a thresholdtime duration before switching.